Deputies arrest 2 in gang rape

Collier County Sheriff's Office deputies have arrested two men and say they're searching for three more suspected of gang raping a 51-year-old woman in Immokalee on Sunday morning.

Deputies arrested Samuel Luis Alfonso, 22, and Pedro Perezlozano, 24, both of 701 S. First St., Unit 32, Immokalee, on charges of sexual battery with multiple perpetrators.

The victim, whose name will not be released because of the nature of the charges, told deputies she was riding her bicycle from her Immokalee residence to a friend's home at 701 S. First St. at about 3 a.m. The woman said she was unable to find her friend, and was riding her bicycle around the area when three Hispanic men approached her.

The woman said the men surrounded her, spoke to her in Spanish and pushed her into the home shared by Alfonso and Perezlozano.

Once inside, the men pulled off the victim's wig, pulled her hair and choked her, deputies said. One man punched her face, and took her into one of the bedrooms, deputies said.

The woman reported one of the men pulled off her pants and had sex with her. One by one, she said, four others entered the room and had sex with her.

Deputies said the woman was finally able to push one of the men away, and ran out of the home with her pants in her hand. She called deputies from a nearby pay phone.

Samuel Alfonso

Pedro Perezlozano

Sheriff's spokeswoman Kristin Adams said it does not appear that the victim knew her attackers by name. It is unknown if any of the suspects are related to one another, she said.

The woman led deputies to unit 32, where Alfonso and Perezlozano were located. Deputies said they found the victim's purse and wig inside the residence and her bicycle at a nearby Dumpster.

After interviewing the men, deputies transported Alfonso and Perezlozano to the Immokalee Jail Center. The woman was treated at Planned Parenthood.

Deputies have not released descriptions of the other three suspects.

Immokalee was the site of another gang rape in October. A 20-year-old woman reported she was kidnapped from her Immokalee trailer, attacked and raped by 14 Hispanic men.

Prosecutors dropped the charges against 11 of the men in February, saying they could not produce definitive evidence linking them to the rape. Most, or all, of the men have been, or will be, deported back to their home countries.

Prosecutors said they do have enough evidence to bring criminal charges against three of the men. DNA tests link Rene Perez-Garcia, Alvarado Perez-Luis and Mario Lopez-Luis with samples of bodily fluids taken from the trailer after the woman said she was attacked.

Adams said there are some things a victim can do to try to thwart an attack. Adams said she would advise residents to carry a loud whistle with them at all times.

"Try to make a lot of noise and call attention to yourself," she said. "That may help scare attackers away."

Adams said she would also advise residents not to travel alone, especially after dark, and to be familiar with an area before traveling there alone.