MARION COUNTY, Fla — He offered a woman a ride to her aunt’s house, and she accepted, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies say what seemed like a generous gesture quickly turned terrifying, when 28-year-old Efthimios Mikedis showed up at her house in a van – with his mother behind the wheel. And they had another man with them, according to a sheriff’s office Facebook post.
Investigators say the woman described Mikedis as someone you would “instantly be scared of,” and deputies say she saw a gun in his waistband. According to the sheriff's office post, when the woman told Mikedis she no longer wanted the ride, he told her she didn’t have a choice – then forced an “unknown substance” in her mouth.
Deputies say Mikedis, his mother and Robert McDaniel took the woman to a camper behind a home. Authorities say when she asked if they would take her to her aunt’s house, Mikedis allegedly said “Why don’t you just stay here?”
That’s when the woman began to black out, according to investigators, and the sexual battery began.
She told deputies, when she woke up, she tried to quietly call an UBER, but Mikedis woke up too and forced more of that unknown substance in her mouth, according to law enforcement. Then, deputies say, he started burning her hair with a cigarette while holding a pair of scissors to her throat.
Investigators said in the post Mikedis punched the woman in the back of her head, dragged her by her hair back to the van, and his mother drove them to a Winn Dixie parking lot.
That’s where the woman was dumped, according to deputies.
Efthimios Mikedis is charged with sexual battery. Investigators are looking for Robert McDaniel. The woman told investigators she was raped by more than one person.
Deputies did not say if Mikedis’ mother will face charges.
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