It's been almost five years since he came into her apartment through a broken patio door and attacked her in bed.
She remembers the pillow over her face, the attacker pressing down.
"This voice told me, 'Don't move,' " the 35-year-old woman said, reflecting in a recliner in her Bradenton home.
Almost five years later, detectives at the Manatee County Sheriff's Office have arrested Michael J. Ford on charges of sexual battery and burglary with battery in connection with the woman's attack.
Detectives say Ford's blood was left on the woman's sheets, and a neighbor of the woman saw him in the area just before the attack, according to an arrest warrant.
Ford, who is classified as a sexual predator, was convicted in 1990 of 12 counts of burglary and sexual battery for attacks that took place in the late 1980s in Palm Beach County.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, he served 12 years in prison.
Ford, 50, was released March 30, 2002. A little more than a year later, authorities say they believe he broke into a 30-year-old Bradenton woman's room and attacked her, using the same routine shown in his other attacks.
"The method of operation was to enter a residence of a single female who was home alone. He would usually enter surreptitiously and surprise his victim, who was usually asleep in bed," said Manatee County Sheriff's Office Detective Bill Waldron. "He thought he was Don Juan," Waldron said.
Ford also routinely covered his victims' faces during the attacks, Waldron said.
The sheriff's office took notice of Fordin 2004 when he was spotted apparently trying to pick up a woman on the street, Waldron said.
Law enforcement ran his tag, and it revealed he had a sexual predator status, Waldron said.
His probation officer was notified, and Ford was later taken into custody through the Jimmie Ryce Act, which keeps repeat sex offenders in custody in an effort to treat them.
He was arrested on the latest charges while he was in the Florida Civil Commitment Facility For Sex Offenders in Arcadia.
Ford remained in jail without bond Saturday.
She never saw his face
The memories are still fresh for the victim.
It was about 2 a.m. Nov. 3, 2003, and she was in bed in her one-bedroom apartment at Colony Apartments in the 6000 block of 34th Street West.
Detectives say Ford cut a hole in the lanai screen and entered the woman's bedroom through a broken patio door.
"I remember thinking, 'this actually can't be happening.' He ripped off my pants and I remember thinking, 'How am I going to get out of this?' " she said. "I thought, 'My mom's going to come in here and find me dead tomorrow.' "
She fought back. She kicked and scratched. Her attacker's blood stained the pillow.
She never saw his face.
All she knew was he was a tall man with light colored hair, according to reports.
He beat her into the railing of the bed with a couple of blows, she said. "After the second hit, I couldn't feel it," she said recalling the painful throbbing sensation. "He said, 'Don't move or I'll kill you.' I just lay there screaming for him to leave, 'Please, just leave.' "
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