CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – A security guard has been arrested in connection with a pair of attempted sexual batteries in Coral Springs.
Dante Collins, 25, of Fort Lauderdale, was arrested Sunday on charges of sexual battery and loitering or prowling.
According to a Coral Springs police report, Collins took a "surreptitious route" after leaving his security post at the Walmart on Coral Springs Drive early Sunday, driving through the Wyndham Lakes community and other residential neighborhoods in the city. Wyndham Lakes is the same neighborhood where a series of attacks on women have been reported since February.
An officer driving an unmarked car witnessed Collins leaving the Walmart parking lot and followed him before initiating a traffic stop in the 1800 block of University Drive, the report said.
"I believed that Collins was leaving work before the end of his scheduled shift and was not leaving work via a normal route to exit the city of Coral Springs and was looking for potential female victims to attack," the officer wrote.
The officer said Collins lied about reporting to work on time, how long he was at Walmart, leaving his security job early and the route he took through the residential neighborhoods. The officer also said Collins matched the description of the man believed to be responsible for the attacks.
According to the report, Collins admitted that he tried to attack five to 10 women in the Wyndham Lakes community. When asked if it was closer to five or 10, Collins told police, "Closer to 10."
"A security guard -- you think you are safe with a security guard and he turns out to be a bad guy," Coral Springs resident Andrea Aponte said.
Police said Collins told them he had a "problem" and was "deeply sorry" for what he had done.
