Coral Springs Police say they are looking for a male suspect in his 40s who beat and sexually assaulted a woman employee in a medical office near where a fire broke out Monday.
Officials continue to investigate the fire that began at about 5 p.m. Monday at the Central Medical Plaza at 9750 Northwest 33rd Street, Coral Springs Fire Rescue Capt. Richard Antonini said.
According to Antonini, firefighters who responded to the scene found smoke in a hallway of the building and a fire in one of the doctor's suites.
The firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the fire and pulled a woman they found inside to safety, Antonini said.
The unidentified woman was taken to a nearby hospital where her condition is unknown.
On Tuesday, police released the sketch, seen above, of a suspect they described as about 5 feet 11 inches tall with a thin build, dark hair and eyes, and groomed eyebrows. He was last seen waring a black T-shirt and jeans.
His victim told police that he made his way into the first-floor medical office where she was working and demanded she give him prescription pills just after 5 p.m. Monday. When she told him the office had none, he turned violent, chasing her before he beat and sexually assaulted her, police said.
He also choked her so hard that she passed out, according to police, who said that he is wanted on charges of attempted murder and sexual battery.
After the alleged attack, a fire broke out near the same office. The female medical worker was found unconscious and was rescued by firefighters, authorities said.
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Police ask anyone with information on the case to call Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
One woman, who works on the first floor of the building, said she was leaving work when she encountered black smoke in the hallway Monday.
"Usually you hear the fire alarms and usually it's all a test but this one wasn't, so we had everybody escape the offices and get out and wait for the firemen," worker Linda Adams said.
