Man Wanted In NJ Sexual Assault May Be Tied To Another Attack

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The suspect wanted in the sexual assault of a woman in the area of Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park bordering South Brunswick and Plainsboro, may be connected to another attack early this summer, police said.

On Sept. 28, between 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. a woman was walking on a path adjacent to the canal where she was approached by a man armed with a weapon and taken to another location on the Plainsboro-South Brunswick border where she was sexually assaulted, police said.

This incident has similarities to a sexual assault that occurred in Duke Island Park in Bridgewater Township, Somerset County on the evening of July 18, authorities said. On July 18 at around 8:45 p.m. a woman was riding her bike at the Somerset County park when a man came up behind her when she stopped to use her cell phone, said Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson.

The man held a knife to her throat and asked for money, after which the man sexually assaulted her in the nearby bushes and fled the area on a bicycle towards the direction of Raritan, authorities said.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone, Chief Fred Tavener of the Plainsboro Police Department, and Chief Raymond Hayducka of the South Brunswick Police Department said they are jointly investigating the aggravated sexual assault.

The suspect is described in the age range of 40s - 50s, approximately 5’5” – 5’6” tall, wearing dark-colored clothing and a dark baseball cap. He is believed to have been riding a bike.

The investigation is active and continuing. Anyone with information or surveillance footage of the area is asked to contact Detective Sue Kowalski of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732)745-3287, Detective Patrick Miller of the Plainsboro Police Department at (609)799-2333, or Detective Dominick Delucia of the South Brunswick Police Department at (732)329-4646. Tips may also be submitted to www.middlesextips.com.

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