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Armed man attacks jogger, tries forcing her into woods before she escapes, CT cops say

A man is facing charges after police in New Haven, Connecticut, say he attacked a woman in 2023 and sexually assaulted another woman in 2018.
A man is facing charges after police in New Haven, Connecticut, say he attacked a woman in 2023 and sexually assaulted another woman in 2018. Getty Images/iStockphoto

A stranger with a gun approached a woman during her morning jog and attacked her, then disappeared after she escaped the assault one year ago in Connecticut, police said.

Now, the accused attacker has been arrested and is facing a slew of charges, the New Haven Police Department announced in an Oct. 15 news release.

The morning of Oct. 12, 2023, the man, who the woman didn’t know, brandished his gun and tried to force the 38-year-old jogger into the woods in New Haven, according to police.

He hit her in the face before she escaped and fled to her house, police said. Then, the man was believed to have run off into Edgewood Park, according to authorities.

The man was identified as Crisleonel Cruzado, of New Haven, and he was arrested “without incident” on Oct. 11, police said.

Information regarding his legal representation wasn’t immediately available.

An investigation led by New Haven Det. Samantha Romano revealed Cruzado sexually assaulted a woman during another attack in the city in 2018, according to authorities.

At the time, Cruzado had a knife, police said.

Cruzado has been charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault in connection with the 2018 attack, according to police.

He is also facing charges of first-degree unlawful restraint, second-degree assault, first-degree endangerment and second-degree breach of peace in relation to the attack on the jogger in 2023, police said.

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Julia Marnin
McClatchy DC
Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.
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