A man with a criminal record for groping and sex charges was arrested in Polk County after unlawfully grabbing a 16-year-old girl at a Chick-fil-A.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported that Awny Abdel Malek Basta, 57, of Lakeland, was charged with lewd and lascivious touch.
Basta was arrested on Thursday after an investigation found that he repeatedly groped a 16-year-old girl’s buttocks at a Chick-fil-A restaurant at 4635 South Florida Avenue.
According to PCSO, deputies arrived at the eatery approximately 2:55 p.m. on Wednesday. The girl informed investigators that Basta sat at a table immediately behind her in the restaurant as she was doing schoolwork.
She claimed to have felt something touch the upper part of her buttocks numerous times before turning around and seeing Basta touch her with his hand.
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According to PCSO, the victim challenged Basta, who then fled the restaurant.
As the man boarded a bus, restaurant staff called PCSO dispatchers to track him down. The PCSO then stated that the restaurant staff flagged down the bus, and the suspect was requested to leave.
Patrol deputies apprehended the suspect in a neighboring parking lot.
According to the PCSO, Basta has a history of touching women and committing sexual assaults. He was incarcerated three times in Tennessee between 2006 and 2011 on sexual battery charges, and in 2015, he was arrested after groping a woman at a Lakeland Panera Bread and serving 180 days in jail for battery.
According to PCSO, Basta was arrested in 2023 for grabbing a lady at a Lakeland Starbucks and charged with probation violation and felony violence.
He was freed from prison just over two months ago, on October 18.
Polk County Sheriff Grady stated that owing to his vast criminal past, there may be further victims.
