MIAMI – Miami police arrested a 21-year-old man Tuesday after they said he broke into a woman’s apartment in the city’s Coconut Grove neighborhood and assaulted her during an armed robbery.
Bennie Tavaris Rhaney Jr. faced three felony charges after the arrest.
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According to police, the robbery happened at around 12:40 a.m. last Wednesday at an apartment building at 3339 Virginia St., about an eight-minute walk from Rhaney’s home on Thomas Avenue.
Police said the woman had been sleeping when she was awoken by a noise in the kitchen area. According to an arrest report, when she got to the kitchen, Rhaney confronted her at gunpoint.
The report states that Rhaney told the woman “give me the money.” Police said the woman told Rhaney she didn’t have any money and backed away with her hands up.
According to police, the woman’s dog began barking and Rhaney told her to “make her dog shut up,” then kicked the woman in the face, causing an injury to her nose.
As Rhaney began going through her items, he turned around and told her, “If you don’t have any money, suck my d--- then,” police wrote in the report.
Police said the victim began to scream and Rhaney got out through a window. They said the woman ran to a neighbor’s apartment, where they called police.
According to the report, surveillance video identified Rhaney as the suspect. Police said video showed him going to and from his home.
Authorities said they pulled Rhaney over Tuesday morning at the corner of Thomas Avenue and Margaret Street and detained him. The report states police executed a search warrant at his home and found a Smith & Wesson gun.
Police said Rhaney spoke to detectives and made a confession, which was redacted from the report.
Rhaney, who faces charges of armed burglary with assault or battery, home invasion robbery with a firearm and attempted sexual battery, was being held without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Jail records also list a host of separate burglary and grand theft charges.