Tampa man gets life for rape of woman who thought he was a cop

TAMPA — The women believed the man was a cop. So they did as they were told when he stopped their car late one night two years ago, told them to get out, patted them down and put one of them in zip ties. She would later tell a Tampa jury the horrific story of how the man took her to an isolated location and raped her.

At trial last year, Justin Evans admitted he had sexual contact with the woman but claimed it was consensual. A jury wasn’t convinced.

On Friday, Evans was sentenced to life in prison for the crime.

He stood in court wearing orange and restrained with chains.

His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Douglas Baker, argued before a judge for a more rehabilitative sentence, offering a lengthy summary of a life profoundly troubled.

The lawyer told of a childhood in which Evans never knew his real father, and experienced abuse from older male figures. He shuffled between group homes as a child. He showed early behavioral problems, had trouble with alcohol and drugs, dropped out of school and grappled with mental illnesses — diagnosed as bipolar and major depression.

His later problems, Baker said, were the result of untreated childhood trauma.

A state prosecutor, though, noted that Evans had only lived freely in the community for about three to four years since his early teens. He previously served a lengthy prison sentence for robbery and attempted robbery in Missouri.

“This is somebody who does not belong out on the street ever again,” said Assistant State Attorney Adam Bugg. “The only appropriate sentence here is life in prison.”

The crime occurred Aug. 10, 2021. The three women had stopped at the Bull Market on N 42nd Street in Tampa. They had just pulled away from the store when they noted blue lights from the car behind them and pulled over. They said the other driver approached and asked for their identification. He mentioned something about drug activity in the area and made them get out. He had them put their hands on the car and patted them down.

He put one woman in zip ties. He told her friends she was being arrested for possession of marijuana.

At trial, the woman recalled from the witness stand how the man put her in his car — where he had a laptop set up next to the driver’s seat, like a police officer. She said he began to drive, telling her how much trouble she was in and saying the only way to avoid jail was to do something for him.

She said he took her to an isolated parking lot. She could hear frogs chirping.

He took off the zip ties, then raped her.

She was too afraid to try to run.

“At that point, I’m either dealing with a dirty cop or a complete psycho,” she testified at trial.

Afterward, he got in the front seat and found his car out of gas, she said. He flagged down some men, who gave him and the woman a ride to a gas station. She tried to tell the men what had happened and to call the police, she said. But they didn’t believe her.

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When they’d filled up a gas can, they returned to the car. Her assailant started it up again, then drove her back to where he’d stopped her and her friends. He let her go.

Her friends had gone to the Orient Road Jail, believing they’d need to bail her out. She called and told them what happened.

A rape exam revealed DNA that tied Evans to the crime.

In his trial last November, Evans took the witness stand in his own defense. He didn’t deny having sexual contact with the woman. But he claimed it was consensual, that she’d willingly gone with him after they’d noticed each other in traffic and discussed smoking marijuana together. He denied posing as a cop and said the lights in his car were blue LED “mood lights.”

He was found guilty of sexual battery, kidnapping, false imprisonment and theft for taking the woman’s money.

He said little in court but expressed dissatisfaction with his prior attorney, who left the case shortly after the trial due to health issues.

Prosecutors sought to designate Evans as a “prison releasee reoffender.” The label references what’s known as Florida’s two-strikes law, which allows for increased penalties for defendants who commit new crimes within three years of release from prison.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Michael Williams had no choice but to impose the life sentence. Though she was not present in court, the judge addressed the woman Evans assaulted.

“It was a horrible set of facts that nobody should have to go through,” Williams said. “She was a strong person, a strong witness. I wish her well.”