A North Port Woman is terrorized in her own home. Police say the 70-year-old was tased, tied up and held hostage for some 7 hours.
Her handyman, Anthony Brigitzer, is locked up and facing kidnapping charges.
10News has uncovered he’s the same suspect who's been tied to a high-profile, Bay area murder case.
“She was crying and screaming and said the neighbor's son from across the street just abducted her, basically tied her up all day,” says neighbor Matthew Sheats.
Sheats says his next-door neighbor, 70-year-old Mary Corbett ran to his house for help after being held hostage by a man she knew and trusted, 50-year-old Anthony Brigitzer, who had done landscaping work for her before.
The traumatized victim tells a 9-1-1 dispatcher what happened. “He asked me to have a glass of water. I got him a glass of water and he grabbed me from behind and started hitting me with the stun gun,” says Corbett.
Arrest record show Brigitzer got upset when the taser didn't knock her unconscious. “He just said, ‘Oh this damn thing’s not working right. It was cheap.’ He just kept trying to hit her body with it. Just awful,” says Corbett’s neighbor, Janine Durecka.
“Her wrists were all bruised up and he taped her legs as well, she was gagged,” says Sheats.
Police believe the captor was high on meth and looking for cash. When he only found $30, the arrest report says he threw the money down on the table telling her, "You barely have any money, you need this more than I do." She says he stole her gun and took off.
“She was very scared he was going to kill her,” says Sheats.
Police tracked Brigitzer down in Lee County. His father didn't want to talk about his son now charged with kidnapping his neighbor.
“I have nothing to say,” Brigitzer says through his screen door.
Department of Corrections records reveal that Brigitzer just got out of prison last summer. He'd been serving 5 years after getting busted for stealing jewelry from a friend's grandma and pawning it.
Deputies say back in 2012, they pulled him over and also discovered a stun gun, two hatchets - one with blood on it, a knife, and gloves in the trunk. Investigators seized that evidence as part of the unsolved murder case of Kelly Moriarty. The day after deputies stopped Brigitzer, Moriarty's severed leg was found in Tampa Bay. Now, 5 years later, no one, including Brigitzer, has been arrested for Moriarty's murder. However, he won't be getting out of jail anytime soon.
“He did say that he was Satan, so I guess he’s an evil person,” says Sheats.
Neighbors say the victim is shaken up, and other than the bruises she is okay.
Brigitzer is being held in the Sarasota County jail without bond.
