Alleged Branch Brook Park Attacker Arrested; Had 'Lengthy Criminal History,' Cops Say

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ -- Police have arrested a man suspected of attacking a 34-year-old woman in Essex County Branch Brook Park last week. The alleged attacker, John T. Wilson, 56, was on parole at the time of the incident, authorities stated.

According to the Essex County Sheriff's Office, the attack took place in the late Saturday evening/early Sunday morning hours of July 8 to 9 in the county-maintained park, which is located in Newark and Belleville.

Sheriff Armando Fontoura issued the following statement about the Friday night arrest:

"John T. Wilson, 56, was released from South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton for a 1999 Essex County manslaughter conviction and was still on parole after serving 17 years of a maximum 20-year sentence. [Wilson] was tracked to a halfway house on Newark’s Fulton Street where he was taken into custody without incident."

Authorities charged Wilson with attempted murder and aggravated assault.

Fontoura said that investigators got their biggest break in the case when "video surveillance cameras in the area revealed the suspect and the victim walking together on the night of the crime.”

Wilson was on parole for one year and one day before the attack, which took place just yards away from the New Jersey Light Rail Station on Heller Parkway, authorities said.

Wilson was lodged at the county jail where he awaits a bail hearing.

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