Charges In Rape Attempt At Park, Police Silent On Stislicki Case

LIVONIA, MI — A 30-year-old Berkley man accused in a violent attack on a 28-year-old jogger in Livonia’s Edward Hines Park last fall appeared in a Livonia court on felony charges Wednesday, and was ordered held on $750,000 cash bond. Investigators have said Floyd Russell Galloway Jr. is a “person of interest” in the Danielle Stislicki missing person investigation, but the charges against him now relate only to the Sept. 4, 2016, attempted rape of the jogger.

Police say Galloway grabbed the woman from behind, dragged her down an embankment toward the Rouge River, and punched and strangled her until she lost consciousness. He began undressing her and said he wanted to have sex with her, police have said, but fled when she fought back.

Appearing before 16th District Court Judge Kathleen McCann, Galloway was charged with kidnaping, criminal sexual conduct – assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, and assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder by strangulation. (For more local news, click here to find your local Michigan Patch and sign up for our free newsletters and real-time alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

His next court date is July 6.

Livonia Police Chief Curtis Cade said Galloway’s arrest is the result of the collaborative efforts of local, state and federal investigators, including those from the Livonia, Farmington Hills and Southfield police departments, Michigan State Police and the FBI.

“I am very pleased to announce the arrest of the defendant and the case will now proceed through the criminal justice system,” Cade said in a news release. “This investigation sends a clear message that regardless of the jurisdiction of the crime, regional law enforcement resources will come together as one to protect our communities and seek justice.”

Livonia police said neither they nor the other agencies involved in the investigation would comment further on the Galloway investigation.

• Danielle Stislicki Missing Person Case: Police Name 'Person of Interest'

WWJ Radio cited a police source who confirmed Galloway is a “person of interest” in the Stislicki missing persons investigation. Police said early in the investigation the 28-year-old Farmington Hills woman likely was a victim of a crime.

She was last seen at her job in Southfield on Dec. 2, 2016, and her Jeep was found a day later outside her home in a Farmington Hills apartment complex, but police believe it was driven there by someone involved in her disappearance.

Investigators combed Galloway’s residence in Berkley residence for clues into Stislicki’s disappearance in late December and seized a mattress.

Attorney Jim Williams, who is representing the man, told WWJ his client is "just one more" of the many people Farmington Hills police have interviewed in Stislicki's disappearance.

“What happened yesterday [his arrest] is a completely separate matter, and he’s innocent of those charges. There’s absolutely no connection between the two,” Williams said.

If there were evidence against his client in the Stislicki case, "they would have brought charges," he said, adding "they haven't done so yet."

“At some point we do believe the police will back off because I’m sure they have concluded from their investigation that my client is not involved in that case,” Williams told the radio station. “He’s wrongfully identified in the Stislicki case and that ought to just drop. The police haven’t been able to do anything on that, they’re looking at many people.”

Photos: Livonia Police Department (Galloway) and Shutterstock (gavel)