BROWN COUNTY (NBC 26) — A 17-year-old faces multiple criminal charges, including attempted homicide and sexual assault, for an attack that happened earlier this month on the East River Trail.
Miles Cruz was charged Thursday with attempted first degree intentional homicide, first degree sexual assault, kidnapping, strangulation and suffocation, and second degree recklessly endangering safety.
On Oct. 5, De Pere Police were sent to the East River Trail near Tenmile Drive in De Pere for reports of a missing woman. When officers arrived, they found the woman near the trail. The woman had been assaulted and she was taken to a local hospital. She has since been released from the hospital and police said she was recovering at home.
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In the criminal complaint filed Thursday, the victim told police that she was walking on East River Trail on the morning of Oct. 5 with her baby in a wrap. The victim stated that while she was walking, someone came from behind and put a sweatshirt over her head, pulling it right around her head and neck. The person pulled her backward and she screamed loudly. She fell down and fought to get away from the suspect.
At one point, the criminal complaint said the assailant bashed her head on the blacktop. The victim also stated in the criminal complaint that the person attacking her strangled her to the point that she lost consciousness. The next thing she remembers is being sexually assaulted. According to the complaint, when she moved, he put his arm back over her neck and cut off her air. The complaint also states she heard her baby crying.
The criminal complaint said she didn’t remember the baby being removed from her or her shoes, pants being taken off, or being dragged into the woods.
"The suspect never said a word to me during this time," the victim stated in the criminal complaint. "The suspect cut off my air again and choked me using both of their hands around my neck as they were sexually assaulting me and I could not breathe. I again let my arms go limp and played dead in hopes that the suspect would stop choking me so I could breathe. I thought I was going to die because I could not take in any air at all. I must have passed out a second time."
When she woke up a second time, the criminal complaint says, he was gone. Her vision was blurry and she felt out of it. She laid there for a little while and got up and started walking. She was scared he was going to come back, the criminal complaint says, but eventually saw a police car and went that way, saw her husband, and just tried to get to him. The victim was then taken to the hospital.
In the initial press conference addressing the assault, police said the baby was not seriously injured and was found lying in the grass.
A person, later identified as Miles Cruz, was taken into custody along the East River Trail. The complaint states that during an interview at the De Pere Police Department, it was revealed that Cruz was a runaway, was having some difficulty with his parents and had been staying with friends, and had also been recently suspended from school.
When asked about the assault, the complaint said that Cruz denied touching or assaulting any lady.
The criminal complaint stated that a witness saw Cruz follow the victim closely on the East River Trail before the assault. The complaint also cites DNA evidence linking Cruz to the crime.
The victim stated in the complaint that she had serious pain in parts of her body and was only able to eat soft foods or soup for about 5 to 6 days after the assault. The criminal complaint said the victim will be going to physical therapy for back, neck, and throat pain.
Thursday was Cruz's initial appearance in court. He's currently in custody at the Brown County Jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 10.
