New Haven Man, 25, Charged After Attacking Woman In Westville: Police

NEW HAVEN, CT — Just before dawn on an October 2023 Saturday, a woman jogging near Edgewood and Yale avenues was attacked by a man with a firearm, police said. The man, who cops would later identify and charge, tried to "force her into a nearby wooded area and struck her in the face," but the woman, 38, fought back and managed to run away from the assailant, according to New Haven police who posted to "X."

The woman ran to her home and there was treated by medics for injuries she sustained in the struggle to get away, police said, while, police said, the man fled into Edgewood Park. A search for him using K9 and patrol officers was unsuccessful.

The department's but Special Victims Unit took over the investigation, with the case being assigned to SVU Det. Samantha Romano. That investigation led to Crisleonel Cruzado, 25, of New Haven, who was arrested and charged with first-degree unlawful restraint, first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree assault and second-degree breach of peace.

Romano's investigation also implicated Cruzado in a 2018 rape in the same area, Yale Avenue and Chapel Street, where a woman was raped at knife-point. In that case, he was charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault. He is being held on a $250,000 bail, and is due in court Wednesday.