- April 19, 2024
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Deputies arrested 27-year-old Palm Coast resident Michael Bruns Jan. 23 on charges that he raped a woman he resided with.
The victim, 29, told Flagler County Sheriff's Office deputies that the rape occurred on Dec. 19.
Bruns has been arrested multiple times dating back to 2010 on charges including battery, violation of injunction, DUI, criminal mischief and burglary. He spent less than six hours at the county jail on the rape charge before being released on bond.
She said that she and Bruns had been arguing for weeks and that he'd had a problem with alcohol for years, according to an FCSO arrest report.
Late the night of Dec. 19, she said, Bruns pressured her to have sex with him, and when she said no, he became enraged — knocking down a bookshelf and throwing a beer bottle and a chair across the room, according to the arrest report.
He briefly appeared to calm down, but when he asked her to sit in bed with him and she replied that she did not want to sleep in the same room as him, he punched a hole in their bathroom door and began yelling at her.
She told him to stop yelling, for the sake of the children in the home — that she'd do whatever he wanted if he'd just stop yelling — and he replied, "You're right, you'll do whatever I want," then pulled her clothes off and raped her, as she repeatedly told him to stop, she said.
At one point, he stopped and said, "This isn't fun, I'm raping you," and then left and slept on the couch, according to the report.
The next morning, he texted her an apology, writing, "I hurt you a lot last night and I was so hurt I couldn't control my emotions they just spilled out," and continuing to assert that he couldn't control himself.
The woman reported the rape when filing for an injunction for protection Dec. 30, telling deputies that she hadn't reported the rape immediately because Bruns had a history of physically abusing her, and she was afraid of him, according to the arrest report.
Bruns has been arrested multiple times in Flagler County and St. Johns County dating back to 2010, on charges including battery, violation of injunction, DUI, criminal mischief and burglary, according to county jail and court records.
After reporting the rape, the victim placed a phone call to Bruns, recorded by law enforcement, in which she confronted him about the rape, at one point saying, "So are you sorry you raped me? Or you're not sorry you raped me?" Bruns replied, "Of course I'm sorry," and added that he "couldn't think" and "was going crazy."
Bruns was arrested and charged with sexual battery, and deputies booked him into the county jail at 4:57 p.m. on Jan. 23. At 10:53 that night, he posted bail on his $150,000 bond, and was released, according to county jail records.
