Florida Man Shot In Head After Allegedly Taking Social Worker Hostage, Raping Her For Hours

A Florida man was shot in the head by authorities but survived the incident, officials said, after he allegedly took his social worker hostage and sexually assaulted her for 15 hours.

Tzvi Asher Allswang, 20, was charged with attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping and four counts of sexual battery after surviving being shot by authorities at his home in Boca Raton on Saturday.

According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Oxygen.com, the victim in the case, who is a social worker, told police she arrived at Allswang's residence — which he shares with his parents and brother — around 6:30 p.m. on Friday for a counseling session that Allswang had rescheduled several times that week. Though it was common for other relatives to be in the home during the sessions, she came to realize that there was no one else there, and recalled her colleagues warning her that Allswang had been convicted as a juvenile of sexual battery.

As the session was ending, she told police, Allswang attempted to convince her to remain and began asking what she termed "personal questions" and getting into her "personal space." As she attempted to leave, she said, she realized all the blinds had been closed and material taped over the front door in the wake of her arrival. At that point, she said, Allswang came up behind her, picked her up in a bear hug and told her she wasn't allowed to leave.

He then overpowered her, took her phone and duct taped her hands from behind, she said, after which he allegedly beat, fondled, sodomized, sexually assaulted and raped her multiple times over the course of the succeeding 15 hours, dragging her from room to room by her hair.

“During the night his behavior would change from being calm, becoming angry and sexually aroused,” charging documents state. “Tzvi would at times strangle her from behind by placing his arm around her throat and placing her into a child hold or by grabbing her with his right hand around her throat from the front.” 

During the woman’s captivity, she said Tzvi was in possession of what she believed was a gun but turned out to be a large kitchen knife wrapped in a towel. He also wrapped both their cell phones in aluminum foil to prevent them from pinging and revealing her location.

At 1:00 a.m., the victim's mother called police to report her missing, and responding police officers from the Lantana Police Department — north of Boca Raton — interviewed the victim's long-time partner. The partner told police that the victim had promised to be home for dinner but hadn't arrived, and she and the family became worried when no one could get through to her. Then, the partner said, she received two strange text messages from the victim's phone: One around 7:30 p.m. which read that the woman had been pulled over by police and was being taken to the station for a Breathalyzer; and another at around 12:30 a.m. that said the police were going to take the victim to a hotel for the night and she would see her partner in the morning. Neither read as though they'd been written by the purported sender.

Lantana police were unable to verify that the victim had been pulled over and found no record of her in booking system or at area hospitals. 

Around 3:00 a.m., the victim's partner was able to reach the woman's boss and found out the address of her final appointment, immediately notifying the Lantana police, who asked the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office to check Allswang's home. Around 4:20 a.m., sheriff's deputies met with the victim's boss in the driveway of Allswang's residence, who pointed out that the victim's car was still in the driveway and this was the location of her last appointment. Officers noticed that the front door was covered, but were unable to get Allswang to answer the door or his phone.

The officers departed Allswang's house around 5:30 a.m..

The woman's partner then went to Allswang's residence and called police back around 6:45 a.m., requesting assistance because the victim's car was in the driveway. Deputies arrived back at the scene around 7:30 a.m., and once again went around knocking on doors and windows.

That is when, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, law enforcement heard a woman victim “screaming for help.”

Officers unsuccessfully attempted to ping her phone and locate her at local hospitals while requesting additional units, which arrived in time for them to make entry into the home around 9:30 a.m.

“Deputies made forced entry into the residence and located a female victim who was being [held] against her will at knife point by an adult male suspect,” the statement added. “The suspect refused commands to drop the knife.”

A responding Palm Beach County deputy ultimately shot the 20-year-old in the head above his left eye, police said in a statement.

Allswang was transported to hospital in critical condition. He was later listed in stable condition and is expected to survive. 

The Crime Scene involving Tzvi Asher Allswang Photo: PBSO

In addition to the repeated sexual assaults, the victim suffered cuts and bruises to her arms, wrists, face and neck as well as a bite mark on her left nipple. She taken to a medical center for treatment and was listed in stable condition, officials said.

She told police that she'd heard the deputies knocking around 4:00 a.m., but Allswang had threatened her to remain quiet and, after they left, continued to rape and assault her. She then said that, at some point after police came back to the residence and she screamed, Allswang dragged her into the master bedroom closet and barricaded them in. Then, she said, as more deputies arrived and they began more audible preparations to enter the residence, he became more sexually excited. That is when he allegedly asked her to hold one of his mother's dresses in front of her and expressed a desire to rape her again.

Instead, she said, he ultimately put the knife he'd been carrying up to her throat and threatened to slit it if she made another noise as police searched the home.

The deputy who discharged his firearm has been identified as Sgt. William Nogueras, a 14-year veteran of the department. Nogueras, who is assigned to the sheriff’s K9 unit, has since been placed on paid administrative leave, per department policy. Investigators for the State’s Attorney’s Office are expected to further probe the police-involved shooting. 

Police claim that Allswang had planned the assault in advance.

“It was definitely premeditated,” Teri Barbera, the spokesperson for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office told Oxygen.com on Thursday. The probable cause affidavit notes that police found receipts dated June 29 for the makeshift window coverings in the home, and Allswang's parents had left on vacation midweek — after he cancelled his first counseling appointment with his victim.

The victim has been traumatized by the ordeal, the sheriff’s spokesperson said

“It was a gruesome night of hell for her,” Barbera added.

No further information was available regarding the open case this week. Allswang is being held without bond at a Palm Beach County detention facility, according to online jail records. He’s scheduled in court on Sept. 1 at 8:30 a.m., but hasn't yet entered a plea on his behalf.

Jacob Cohen, Allswang’s defense attorney, declined to comment when reached by Oxygen.com on Thursday.