PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. – A 20-year-old man kidnapped a psychiatrist and held her hostage in her Boca Raton home for about 15 hours, raping, beating and threatening to kill the woman, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Court documents released Thursday show a harrowing ordeal and confusion over the woman’s whereabouts over text messages the suspect sent to family members from her phone.
Tzvi Allswang faces multiple charges and was denied bail on Thursday morning. He appeared in court in a wheelchair and wearing a helmet — recovering from injuries sustained after he was shot in the head by a Palm Beach sergeant while trying to save the woman, who police said was being held at knifepoint.
Deputies interviewed the alleged victim at Wellington Regional Hospital, where she was taken after the incident. She told investigators she worked as a mental health therapist and had met Alswang several times before, but there were usually other people in the home.
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She showed up at the Larkspur Trail home at 5:30 pm on Friday, July 1, for a seance.
She said they had met four or five times before and would go to the den and other people would be present. When she pulled up to the home that day, she also said she saw other vehicles in the driveway and assumed someone else was inside the home.
She said it was not unusual for her not to see other family members during the meetings.
She told investigators Alswang was seen by therapists and social workers and that her responsibilities were “to help him function in society, such as finding a job, writing a resume and how to conduct himself during a job interview “.
She said people who had previously worked with Allswang had “warned” her that he had been sexually charged as a minor.
The social worker told police the meeting appeared to be the same as previous sessions, but then realized he had left several times. She later found out that he used the weather to cover the windows of the home.
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As the meeting ended, she said he asked her to stay longer and asked her personal questions.
She said he entered her “personal space” and it made her feel uncomfortable, so she tried to leave.
As she walked to the front door, she saw that the door window was covered with a black material that she had not seen when she first arrived at the home.
She said Alswang then grabbed her around the chest in a “bear hug” and told her she couldn’t leave.
The two struggled, but she was subdued, she told police. Allswang is 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 200 pounds; the woman is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 136 pounds.
The woman said he took her phone and put it on airplane mode. He also wrapped it in aluminum foil and duct tape and, she said, did the same to her cell phone.
Text messages sent from her phone were sent to the woman’s partner saying she had been stopped by police and taken to be breathalyzed.
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Another report said police were taking her to a hotel for the evening.
The partner feels that the messages are not consistent with the woman’s behavior and she is also unable to respond to the messages.
The Lantana Police Department contacted multiple law enforcement agencies and the Palm Beach County Jail to find out if a woman matching the social worker’s description had been taken into custody. At 4 a.m., Lantana police asked the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in unincorporated Boca Raton to check the address where the social worker went for the session. The woman’s mother also called police to report a missing person on Saturday, July 1 at 1 a.m., saying the woman had not been heard from since her last meeting the night before.
When they arrived, the woman’s supervisor was at the residence and said she was supposed to meet her client at the home the night before. He said her car was in the driveway. Deputies made several attempts to knock on the door and make contact, but there was no answer, they said, nor could they hear anything from the home. They left at 5:33 am. They returned two hours later after the family contacted them again.
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The woman described the harrowing 15-hour ordeal to investigators after her release. She said Altzwag tied her hands behind her back and then dragged her to the couch in the living room.
She said she begged him several times during the night to let her go. He beats her repeatedly. He then raped her repeatedly throughout the time he held her hostage. She told police he also strangled her from behind 4 or 5 times and tried to suffocate her. He bit her too. At one point, he made her wear one of his mother’s dresses, “as if he wanted to imagine her in it.”
She told police she was dragged around the house by her hair and then Alswag either beat or raped her. She said many times she felt he was going to kill her. She credits her training as a mental health professional with saving her life in how she was able to “adapt to his changes in behavior to have any chance of survival.”
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She said the suspect was carrying something wrapped in a towel that she believed might be a gun. She later saw that it was a large kitchen knife that he held to her throat.
PBSO was called again at 6:47 a.m. by the woman’s partner, who said she was already at the residence. At 7:32 a.m., deputies returned and attempted to contact everyone inside, but received no response. When they went to the west part of the house and knocked on a window, they heard a woman scream.
Meanwhile, the woman’s phone showed she was in Broward County. PBSO contacted the Broward County Sheriff’s Office to locate the phone based on GPS coordinates. They couldn’t find the phone.
Deputies checked the doors and found them to be secure. At 9:39 a.m., the home was broken into and when they were able to get to the master bedroom, it was locked. Deputies broke down the door and found Allswang holding the woman hostage with a knife to her throat in the master bedroom closet. At 9:47 a.m., Sergeant William Nogueras shot Allswang once in the head, who PBSO said is assigned to the K-9 unit and has been on the force for 14 years. He is currently on paid administrative leave, which the department says is standard department protocol.
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Allswang was hit in the forehead and was taken to hospital for treatment and survived his injuries.
Elliot Alswang, the suspect’s father, later told detectives that he and his wife had been in New York since the middle of last week and that the brother had been camping. Zvi Alswang was left alone in the residence.
A receipt found at the residence from Boca Raton Party City showed there were black plastic tables like those taped to the door and windows purchased on June 29, 2022.
He faces six felony charges, including attempted first-degree murder with a weapon, kidnapping and four counts of sexual assault by force.
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