Fingerprints, surveillance video and victim identification led to the arrest of a Riverview man accused in multiple cases in January of armed robbery, kidnapping and battery, according to Hillsborough County Court records.
Dandre McNeil, 25, is being held without bail on multiple charges connected to three incidents across Hillsborough County in which he is accused of pulling out a silver revolver and demanding money from victims. A search warrant and multiple arrest affidavits from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office describe the incidents and how investigators connected them.
Court records detail one incident where a woman fell to her knees and begged for McNeil to leave. In another, McNeil tackled a person to the ground and raped them. In the last, he pepper sprayed a man and forced him to withdraw nearly $4,000 from ATMs, the records state.
The initial investigation began Jan. 2 at a Riverview apartment complex. According to an arrest affidavit, McNeil approached a woman taking items out of her trunk and pointed a silver revolver at her. McNeil told the woman to get in her car and drive him to an ATM. The woman dropped to her knees and pleaded with McNeil to leave. A car drove by, and McNeil hid the gun, giving the woman time to flee, the affidavit states.
Less than a week later, McNeil exited a silver VW Jetta at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s parking garage on Orient Road, an affidavit states. The report said McNeil was wearing a ski mask and a black hoodie.
A person, whose name and gender were redacted in the report, was looking for their car in the garage when McNeil approached them, pulled out a silver revolver and demanded money, the affidavit states. The person tried to run away, but McNeil chased them, tackled them to the ground and raped them, the affidavit states.
As McNeil was pulling his pants back up, the person pushed him over. The victim ran from the scene toward the Seminole Police Department, the affidavit states. McNeil was then picked up by the same silver car that dropped him off, the affidavit states. Surveillance video from the garage captured multiple images of McNeil, records state.
The third incident occurred on Jan. 18, at the Hub on Campus Tampa, a new apartment complex near the University of South Florida. McNeil grabbed a 21-year-old man by his shoulder in the apartment’s parking garage and sprayed him with pepper spray, a search warrant states. He pointed a silver revolver at the man and demanded money, according to records.
When the victim told McNeil he didn’t have any money, McNeil made the man drive to multiple ATMs. Ultimately, McNeil took nearly $4,000 from the man, the warrant states. The man eventually dropped McNeil off at the intersection of East Hillsborough Avenue and Orient Road.
While investigating, deputies found fingerprints on the 21-year-old’s car that they identified as McNeil’s. The victim identified McNeil in a photo lineup, records state.
Police arrested McNeil on Jan. 19 and questioned him. McNeil made “several incriminating statements and confessed to being in the victim’s vehicle, and present for the numerous ATM withdrawals,” the warrant states.
The woman in the Riverview attack also identified McNeil as her attacker in a photo lineup, the warrant states.
Meanwhile, a Seminole police detective investigating the Hard Rock incident said they came across the Riverview incident and noticed similarities. After deputies arrested McNeil, the detective interviewed McNeil, and McNeil identified himself as the person in still photos from surveillance camera footage taken at the casino. McNeil said he had been dropped off at the casino for the “purpose of burglarizing unlocked vehicles,” an affidavit states.
McNeil was previously convicted in connection with an armed robbery in South Carolina, according to probation records from the state. His parole officer also identified McNeil in surveillance footage from the Hard Rock, an affidavit states.
Deputies have not found the silver revolver or the clothes used in the attacks, the search warrant states.
The Sheriff’s Office sent out a news release after McNeil’s arrest, asking any other victims to come forward. In an email Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office said McNeil is not facing any additional charges. The Seminole Police Department said it could not comment further because it was an active case with the Sheriff’s Office.
The Hub apartment complex sent a letter to its residents on Jan. 21, after it was made aware of the Jan. 18 incident by a news article regarding McNeil’s arrest. In the letter, the apartment complex said it would have security 24 hours a day for the “foreseeable future.”
“The wellbeing of our residents and staff is our top priority. We are deeply upset to learn about the incident that occurred,” an email from a Hub spokesperson said.
Court records show McNeil is being represented by an assistant public defender, though the name of the attorney is not listed.