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Jacksonville car salesman accused of armed robbery, sexual battery

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Police say John Bessent forced his way into the office of Eden Spa Massage off St. Johns Bluff.

His arrest report says he put an employee in a headlock, brought her to the back of the business and forced her to take off her clothes.

Police say he sexually assaulted her and "told the victim to look away from him and not look at him or he would kill her.”

The report says he took cash from the drawer and threw the victim's clothes in another room before running off.

The report says Bessent was a person of interest in another case, which the officer remembered because of the “odd choice of target locations.”

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After a week, investigators tracked Bessent down after identifying him through surveillance video and his location according to a cellphone tower.

When Bessent was arrested, he denied being involved and refused to let police swab him for a DNA sample, according to JSO.

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