March 21, 2013
PRESS RELEASE
State Attorney Bill Eddins announced that on Tuesday, March 20, 2013, Ronald Perryman was convicted by an Escambia County Jury of Burglary of a Dwelling with a Battery, Sexual Battery with Force Likely to Cause Serious Bodily Injury, Kidnaping, Grand Theft Auto, Robbery Without a Weapon, and Battery. Following the conviction, Judge Gary Bergosh immediately sentenced Ronald Perryman to life in prison as a Prison Releasee Reoffender.
The charges stemmed from an incident on July 15, 2012, when the victim was home alone and heard a knock on the door. She peeked through the window to see who was there and recognized Perryman at the door, who had come by a week before asking if she needed her lawn mowed.
This encounter began the same way.
This time, the man asked her if he could leave his phone number. The victim agreed and wrote down his phone number on a piece of paper. However, before she could shut the door, he grabbed her by the neck, forced her inside the house and began beating her savagely on the face. She did her best to defend herself. She stabbed at him with the pen she had used to write down his number. He raped her. And then he forced her into her own car.
He drove her to the Wells Fargo bank on Fairfield Drive. During the car ride, he continued to sexually assault her. At the bank, he drove through the ATM lane, forced her to give him her pin number, and withdrew money from her bank account. While Perryman was occupied with the ATM, the victim managed to escape from the car, naked and injured from the beating she had received.
Fortunately, a vehicle was just pulling up to the ATM. The two women in that car rescued her, gave her clothes to wear, and called 911. Perryman drove away in the victim's car with $300 from the ATM. Det. Shannon Fortenberry with the Pensacola Police Department tracked Perryman down by tracing his cellphone with the number he had given the victim.
When encountered, Perryman had a swollen, busted knuckle on his right hand and his hands appeared unwashed. Moreover, his appearance matched the footage provided by Wells Fargo Bank from their ATM surveillance equipment.
The Pensacola Police Department collected evidence from the crime scenes. They also collected clippings from Perryman's fingernails. DNA analysis provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement revealed that Perryman's DNA was found on the tip of the pen where the victim had stabbed at him. Additionally, blood and DNA belonging to the victim were discovered underneathe Perryman's fingernails.
Ronald Dwayne Perryman had recently been released from prison on February 1, 2011, for charges including Dealing in Stolen Property, Pawnbroker Fraud, and Burglary of an Unoccupied Conveyance. Perryman still faces charges stemming from two independent assaults on female victims occurring earlier the same week. He is charged with Burglary of a Conveyance and Attempted Carjacking involving a 21-year-old victim on July 11, 2012.
He is also charged with Attempted Robbery with a Weapon and Aggravated Assault upon a 20-year-old victim on July 12, 2012.
The investigation and arrest was conducted by the Pensacola Police Department.
Assistant State Attorney Matt Gordon prosecuted the case.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: State Attorney's Office: Perryman gets life