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Crisleonel Cruzado, age 25, of New Haven, was arrested last week and charged with unlawful restraint, assault in the second degree, reckless endangerment, and breach of the peace, authorities said.
A 38-year-old woman told police that just after 6 a.m. on Oct. 12, 2023, she was running in the area of Yale and Edgewood Avenue area in New Haven when a man approached her with a pistol, police said. He forced her into a nearby wooded area, where he punched her in the face.
She fought back and was able to get away and find help before the attack could progress, authorities said. Paramedics treated her at the scene.
Police dogs were loosed to find the assailant, but they came back empty-pawed. However, after nearly a year of investigation, New Haven Det. Samantha Romano tracked down Cruzado and linked him to the attack.
She also tied Cruzado to a sexual assault that happened only two blocks away and five years earlier in December 2018, police said.
Officials also charged him with aggravated sexual assault, authorities said.
A judge ordered him held on $250,000 bond (total for the two cases), police said.
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