Man Accused Of Strangling Woman In Ocean County Arrested After 16 Months On Run: Official

POINT PLEASANT, NJ — A Point Pleasant man has been arrested and extradited to Ocean County, where he is facing an attempted murder charge in an attack on a woman in the borough in August 2022, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday.

Juan M. Santiago-Rojas, 31, was arrested Dec. 8, 2023 in Wilmington, North Carolina, after nearly 16 months as a fugitive, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. He was extradited on Jan. 12 and is being held at the Ocean County Jail, pending a detention hearing, Billhimer said.

Point Pleasant police were called to a home on Butler Avenue on Aug. 22, 2022, for a report of an unconscious woman, and found the woman with serious injuries to her head and neck, the prosecutor said.

The woman was taken to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick, but the extent of her injuries forced her to be transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, Billhimer said.

The woman was treated at Jersey Shore and eventually released, he said.

Investigators learned Santiago-Rojas had assaulted the woman, and a warrant was issued Aug. 23, 2022 for his arrest on a charge of aggravated assault, Billhimer said, but he had fled the area.

Santiago-Rojas’ name was entered in the National Crime Information Center database, which led to North Carolina authorities arresting him on the fugitive warrant.

The prosecutor's office did not provide details of his arrest in North Carolina.

Additional investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit indicated that Santiago-Rojas assaulted the victim and strangled her to the point of unconsciousness on Aug. 22, 2022, and he was charged on Monday with attempted murder, the prosecutor said.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, Major Crime Unit, and High Tech Crime Squad, Point Pleasant Borough Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office and its Crime Scene Investigation Unit, the U.S. Marshals Service, Belmar Police Department, South River Police Department, and Wilmington, North Carolina, Police Department collaborated on the investigation and arrest.