PIERSON, Fla. – A man was arrested after a woman used a 911 call disguised as a pizza order to report she feared for her safety, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded to the call around 3:43 a.m. on Oct. 19 after the sheriff’s office’s communications center received a 911 call from a woman trying to “order a pizza” — a known distress signal. Upon arriving at a residence in Pierson, deputies said they searched the area and found a man, later identified as Luis Hernandez-Moncayo, on top of a woman.

Deputies separated him from the woman, who appeared “extremely distraught,” they said. She told deputies Hernandez-Moncayo tried to sexually assault her, according to an arrest report.

The victim, whose name is being withheld under Marsy’s Law, later calmed down and told deputies that she and Hernandez-Moncayo were friends and had agreed to hang out together. She said his behavior changed after he consumed alcohol and, feeling unsafe, called 911 under the pretense of ordering a pizza to avoid raising suspicion.

Luis Hernandez-Moncayo is charged with assault by strangulation, false imprisonment and attempted sexual assault.

She told deputies Hernandez-Moncayo grabbed her, threw her to the ground and tried to sexually assault her three times, even choking her twice during the attack. She was able to defend herself briefly, but told deputies he overpowered her again, exposed himself and tried to assault her.

“It was not only scary, but for the deputies to step in, and this woman was absolutely hysterical,” said Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood. “You just think as a father, ‘What if it was my daughter?’

The woman refused transport to the hospital, and deputies said she did not show any visible signs of injury.

While being questioned by deputies, Hernandez-Moncayo claimed the encounter was consensual.

He was arrested and charged with assault by strangulation, false imprisonment and attempted sexual assault. He was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail.

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