Authorities in Florida have taken a 28-year-old man into custody after he allegedly struck a woman with his SUV during a dispute over an unusual request. Police say the incident occurred after the man, identified as Elmoncy Sercle, met the woman on the dating platform Seeking.com.
According to an arrest affidavit, the pair arranged to meet for the first time on August 24 at The Serena Hotel in Aventura. The woman reported to police that once inside a hotel room, Sercle made an unusual request. “When I got there, he just wanted to sniff my feet and I didn’t feel comfortable with that,” the woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told Local 10 News.
She explained that Sercle also expressed interest in purchasing her worn sneakers. “I mean, you could have my sneakers all you want. I mean, I don’t care. I’m not wearing them. And you know, they’re just stinky old sneakers. But people like weird things,” she said.
The woman told investigators that she agreed to sell the shoes for $1,000 and said they were in her car. However, after briefly stepping into the bathroom, she returned to find Sercle gone. Believing he may have been attempting to steal from her, she followed him to the hotel’s parking lot.
There, she claimed, the encounter turned violent. “He drove past me, then did a three-point turn and actually hit me with a car and ran me over,” she told police. The woman sustained multiple injuries, including road rash and bruising to her chest and arms. Speaking to reporters afterward, she said, “By the grace of God, I’m still standing today.”
Sercle fled the scene but was arrested four days later, on August 28, and charged with aggravated battery. Investigators disclosed that he has been accused of attacking other women in a similar manner, though details of those cases were not immediately released.
The victim, reflecting on the disturbing ordeal, said, “I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I’ve met a lot of people who have foot fetishes, obviously, and nobody has ever done anything to this caliber.”
The case is now under review by prosecutors, and authorities are urging any additional victims to come forward.
