Suspect beats woman, attempts 2 carjackings in Venice

VENICE (FOX 13) - Venice Police have a suspect in custody after a woman was found beaten and two others said the suspect tried to carjack them Wednesday.

Crime scene tape was wrapped around the 88 Spa Massage building Thursday afternoon after a worker there was found beaten in the parking lot.

Venice police said it happened around 7:55 p.m Wednesday. They received a call of an injured woman at the Shell parking lot. Then they got another call about an attempted car jacking at the Publix, just a block away.

"It sounds like the suspect, after he committed this battery on this female, fled on foot, jumped into the back of a pickup truck. As the pickup driver noticed the person, he hit his breaks and caused him to fall," said Venice Police Chief Tom Mattmuller.

Police said the man tried to carjack another person, but was unsuccessful and ran away.

Meanwhile, VPD crime scene technicians recovered fingerprints belonging to 53-year-old Ralph M. Forte from one of the vehicles he's accused of trying to carjack. They also got surveillance camera footage from inside 88 Spa Massage, which investigators said shows Forte at the scene of the crime.

Investigators said they found Forte at his home Thursday and he confessed to committing all the alleged crimes during a post Miranda interview. He was taken to the Venice Police Department. Charges will be determined pending further investigation.

The victim at the massage business, an Asian female in her 40s, 

The victim, a woman in her 40s, was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Venice PD said she underwent successful surgery for her head injuries and was recovering Thursday evening. Officers said she is an employee at the 88 Spa Massage.