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On May 16, a female running on a trail near Blackwells Mills and Canal roads in Franklin Township called police to report that a man, later identified as 38-year-old Rogelio Calyeca Postrero, of Raritan, tackled her to the ground and tried sexually assaulting her, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald said. The suspect fled the area on a bicycle, McDonald said.
Then, on July 18, a second victim told police she was riding her bike in Duke Island Park in Bridgewater when a man held a knife to her throat and demanded money from her, before sexually assaulting her in nearby bushes around 9:05 p.m., McDonald said. The suspect fled on a bicycle toward Raritan, police said.
On Thursday, Aug. 4, police responding to reports of a man masturbating near the Nevius Street Bridge in Raritan found Postrero, McDonald said. That's when authorities learned Postrero had been using a fake ID for work purposes in Somerset County, McDonald said.
Postrero's bicycle matched the description given by the Franklin Township victim, police said. Further, DNA matched the profile obtained from the previous assault at Duke Island Park, authorities said.
Postrero was arrested on a slew of charges and held at the Somerset County Jail, pending a detention hearing.
Raritan, Bridgewater, and Franklin police assisted in the investigation, along with New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Sciences Central Regional Laboratory, the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Franklin Township Resident Agency.
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