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Mental health therapist describes terrifying hostage case involving torture, rape at hands of client

Tzvi Allswang shot by deputy after woman held for 15 hours
Tzvi Allswang in court on July 7, 2022
Posted at 2:44 PM, Jul 07, 2022
and last updated 2022-07-07 17:15:34-04

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The public is learning more details about the horrific moments that led up to a Palm Beach County deputy shooting a man accused of holding a social worker hostage and raping her multiple times.

Tzvi Allswang, 20, was transferred from a hospital to the Palm Beach County Jail on Wednesday to face multiple charges.

Allswang was in court Thursday where he was denied bond and ordered to have no contact with the victim.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said Sgt. William Nogueras shot Allswang in the head Saturday morning after he held the mental health therapist against her will inside a home near Boca Raton for 15 hours.

Earlier that morning, just after 1 a.m., the victim's mother had called the Lantana Police Department saying her daughter had not been heard from since attending her last appointment, fearing that she had been kidnapped.

A probable cause affidavit stated that people who knew the missing woman also said they received strange text messages from her phone. One of those strange messages included saying that the victim had been taken into custody, but deputies determined that was false.

Just before 4 a.m., the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office received a call from Lantana police to respond to the 22000 block of Larkspur Trail to determine if the victim was at that location.

A deputy arrived at the home just after 4:15 a.m. where they met the victim's boss. He told the deputy that he received a text from the victim at about 6:30 p.m. Friday saying that said she was meeting Allswang, who was her client, at the Larkspur Trail home.

Deputies said they made several attempts to see if anyone was at the home, but there was no response and could not hear anything coming from inside the house. They eventually left the home just after 5:30 a.m.

The sheriff's office later received a call just after 6:45 a.m. requesting that a deputy respond to the Larkspur Trail home because the victim was there.

Larkspur Trail where deputy-involved shooting occurred, July 2, 2022
A knife-wielding man was shot in the head by a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputy at a home on Larkspur Trail in the Thornhill Green community July 2, 2022, near Boca Raton, Fla.

The caller told dispatchers that the victim's vehicle was parked in the driveway and believed the victim was inside the home.

At 7:32 a.m., deputies on the patio knocked on a window and heard a woman scream from inside the residence.

At this same time, deputies said the victim's cellphone indicated that it was in Broward County. Using GPS coordinates, the Broward Sheriff's Office attempted to find the phone or victim but did not locate anything.

Palm Beach County deputies requested additional units be dispatched to the Larkspur Trail home, where the front door was breached at 9:35 a.m.

Law enforcement found that the master bedroom was locked. Once deputies were able to enter the room, they found Allswang holding the victim hostage with a knife to her throat. Once Nogueras shot Allswang in the head, the suspect was taken to Delray Medical Center for surgery.

Tzvi Allswang, PBSO mugshot released July 6, 2022
Tzvi Allswang was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on July 6, 2022, and faces multiple charges after he was shot by a deputy at a home near Boca Raton.

The woman who was held hostage was then taken to Wellington Regional Hospital for treatment.

The victim told a detective in her role as a social worker that she had seen Allswang four or five times before Friday's appointment. She said that she had met him at the house on Larkspur Trail previously but other people, including family members, were usually present.

She told detectives that her role was to help Allswang function in society, such as getting a job and how to behave during a job interview.

People who work with Allswang warned her that he was previously charged with sexual battery.

She said Friday's meeting went on as usual, but he left the meeting a couple of times. She later believed that is when he was covering the windows of the homes.

As the meeting was ending, she said that Allswang attempted to get her to stay longer and started asking her personal questions that made her uncomfortable.

When she attempted to leave the home, she saw that the window of the front door was now covered with a black material.

She also saw that the window blinds were closed or covered up, which was also unusual.

At the time, she said Allswang grabbed her around her chest in a bear hug and told her that she could not leave.

The victim said she attempted to get away, but he overpowered her and took her phone from her hand.

She said Allswang then put her phone in "airplane mode" and wrapped it in aluminum foil and duct tape to prevent communication.

The probable cause affidavit said that Allswang is about 6-foot-2 and weighed 200 pounds, which is substantially larger than the victim.

The suspect then bound her hands together behind her back with duct tape and dragged her to a couch in the living room.

She said during the course of the night she pleaded numerous times for him to let her go but he refused.

Allswang then beat her multiple times in multiple places on her body with his hands and knees, she told the detective.

Investigators noted that she had visible bruising along with abrasions and cuts on her arms, wrists, face and neck.

The victim said he also fondled her body and raped her multiple times while she was held captive for 15 hours.

She said that she begged him to stop and let her leave, but he continued to torture her.

During the night, the victim said his behavior would change from being calm to becoming angry and sexually aroused.

At times, she said about four or five times he would strangle her from behind by placing his arm around her throat and placing her into a choke hold or grabbing around her throat.

2200 block of Larkspur Trail where deputy-involved shooting took place, July 2, 2022

She told the detective that Allswang also threatened to kill her several times throughout the night, dragging her around the house to different rooms.

The victim said she heard deputies knocking on the outside of the home at about 4 a.m.

She said when deputies again began knocking on the home later that morning that Allswang dragged her into a master closet, closed the door and placed a stool in front of the door.

While they were in the dark closet, she could hear what sounded like a saw and banging at the front door.

She said that Allswang became sexually aroused by the situation and wanted the victim to put on one of his mother's favorite dresses.

As law enforcement entered the room, she said that's when Allswang put a large kitchen knife to her throat and told her to be quiet or he would cut her throat.

When deputies breached the closet, she heard them give Allswang several commands to drop the knife and let her go.

Once he did not respond to their demands, she said she heard one loud gunshot and the knife was no longer being held to her throat. She then ran out of the closet and did not look back, the affidavit said.

Evidence at the home later revealed to investigators that the incident was a premeditated attack, which included covering the windows before the victim's arrival.

Allswang's father later told detectives that he and his wife were in New York and the suspect's brother was away at camp, which detectives said allowed Allswang time to prepare the home for the attack.

Allswang faces one count of attempted murder with a weapon, four counts of sexual battery with force and one count of kidnapping.