UPDATE: February 21 - The Ormond Beach Police Department reports that Jason Minton has turned himself in. He is being held at the Volusia County Jail on no bond.
Ormond Beach, FL - The Ormond Beach Police Department is looking for 43-year-old Jason Minton as the suspect in a sexual assault case. He is also a
registered Sex Offender who lives in Deland.
Investigators say Minton met his victim at the River Grille Restaurant, purportedly for a lunch interview for a job. Minton was in the business the victim was employed at and overheard her telling someone that she needed a new job that paid more money. Minton told her that his place of work was looking for a secretary. They exchanged phone numbers and the victim called to set up the interview for Tuesday, February 18 at the River Grille Restaurant.
The victim told police from her hospital bed that they sat across the table from each other and each ordered an alcohol drink, followed by three shots and a glass of wine. She said that they only ordered an appetizer of "veggie tanglers."
They had met at 12:30 p.m. and the victim remembers looking at her phone around 2:30 p.m. because she received a text from her mother asking what she was doing. She replied interview. The victim said the next she remembered was waking up at her mother's house. Shortly after, she received a call from an unknown contact and answered it. She recognized Minton's voice and hung up. She texted him that she was busy which is when she noticed that Minton's contact information, text log, and call log had been removed from her phone.
Investigators pieced together more of the story by talking to the victim's mother. The mother said she texted the victim at 2 p.m. at 3:54PM, 3:56PM, and 4:15PM. During the timeframe of 3:30PM and 5:00PM, she was able to access the phone's location at the restaurant and saw it travel south on U.S. 1 toward Nova Road. She didn't think anything of it, believeing her daughter was driving home. That changed when she saw the phone had stopped on the north side of U.S. 1, then head back to the restaurant. She then became concerned and drove with her husband to the River Grille, arriving at 5 p.m.
The parents saw a black truck with a Tucker Tree and Bobcat service leaving the parking lot. They found their daughter's vehicle and her in the front passneger seat. The mother said the victim appeared to be incoherent, unable to answer questions and disheveled. The mother got in the driver's seat and noted that the seat was pushed back as if someone taller had been in the seat. She also noticed that the back seat was cleared with items pushed to the floor.
They contacted the OBPD and the victim selected Minton out of a photo lineup.
Detectives contacted the manager and the server at the River Grille to gather more information. They both said the victim was visibly intoxicated as she left the restaurant with Minton. Video from the parking lot shows Minton escorting the stumbling victim to his truck then go back in to pay the bill. The video shows the victim falling to the ground in front of the truck. Minton comes back and drags her body to the passenger door and shoves her inside. He gets in the driver's side and leaves the parking lot, coming back about a hour later.
The video shows Minton pulling up next to the victim's car, pulls her out of his truck and puts her in the car. He then left.
Ormond Beach detectives got a warrant for Minton's arrest yesterday (February 20), charging him with Sexual Battery and Kidnapping. If you have any information on Minton or his whereabouts, call 911 immeidately.
