he DID mess with the wrong woman indeed!

to the woman who was raped (i guess i have to add the word allegedly since he's not been convicted yet) by thomas e hooks: i am sorry you were raped. there is little i can do to help you other than to tell you NEVER be a victim. hold your head up and BE A SURVIVOR because YOU ARE. don't ever let fear overpower you. don't lock your soul up like you lock your doors now. (please). know you are NOT alone. you are NEVER alone.

you also have made me proud. proud that you stood up to him, proud that you faced him, proud that you didn't give up.

Furious Glares At Rape Defendant `I Need Him To See Me,' Says The Woman Allegedly Sexually Assaulted By Trucker Thomas E. Hooks, Left. `It's Like A Mission.' At His Court Appearance, She Took A Seat On The Front Row.
By TRACY GORDON FOX Courant Staff WriterFebruary 22 2006
She had to face him.Two weeks and one day after Thomas E. Hooks allegedly kidnapped the 30-year-old mother of three, tied her up and raped her in his tractor-trailer, she felt compelled to make the 45-minute drive to Superior Court in Danielson Tuesday to watch him face a judge. She wanted him to see her right there in the front row, glaring at him.Dressed up for court, she sat between her parents and her husband, her light brown hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. They waited nearly three hours for Hooks' short arraignment, leaning forward on the wooden bench when he was finally led out in a bright orange, prison-issued jump suit, his wrists and ankles bound. She wanted him to know she was serious when she told him during the assault, "You are screwing with the wrong person.""I need him to see me," she said Monday night, chain-smoking Marlboros and sipping from a bottle of Diet Coke. "It's like a mission at this point."When Superior Court Judge Michael Riley ordered Hooks' bail to remain at $1 million, someone with her clapped loudly. He did not turn around. In the two weeks since the attack, the woman has had panic attacks, made worse because she has to take Exit 72 off I-84 home from work. It's the exit where she first saw the man she identified as Hooks, standing in the middle of the road, waving his arms frantically at her. And she stopped to help him.............

.......In 1988, Hooks was convicted of forcing a woman off the road with his truck, raping her twice and then discarding her on the roadside. His Connecticut victim wants to know how he could get a license to drive a truck after that. She wants to talk to the Florida victim, because "it's her case too."After the court appearance, the woman said she was disappointed Hooks never turned around and looked at her. Later in the day, she went out shopping and decided to get a tattoo around her wrist, where she still has a ligature bruise. The tattoo says, "I'm still living.".......................