Crime & Safety
Man Admits Strangling Woman Nearly To Death In Point Pleasant
The man was on the run for 16 months after the attack but was returned to New Jersey in early 2024 to face charges.
POINT PLEASANT, NJ — A Point Pleasant man has pleaded guilty to attempted murder for strangling a woman and leaving her for dead in 2022, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday.
Juan M. Santiago-Rojas, 33, pleaded guilty on Monday before Superior Court Judge Dina M. Vicari in the incident that happened at a Butler Avenue home in Point Pleasant on Aug. 22, 2022, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
He is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 3, at which time prosecutors will be seeking a 10-year prison term subject to the No Early Release Act, which requires that 85 percent of the sentence be served before a person becomes eligible for parole consideration.
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Police answered a 911 call at the home in 2022 reporting an unconscious woman and found the victim unconscious and with serious injuries to her head and neck, authorities have said.
She was taken to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick but transferred to the trauma unit at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune because of the nature and extent of her injuries, authorities said. She was eventually released from the hospital, the prosecutor's office said.
Find out what's happening in Point Pleasantfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Investigators determined the woman had been assaulted by Santiago-Rojas and on Aug. 23, 2022, charged him with aggravated assault and issued a warrant for his arrest, but Santiago-Rojas had fled the area. He was a fugitive for 16 months before he was arrested Dec. 8, 2023, in Wilmington, North Carolina. Authorities have not said what led to his arrest in North Carolina.
He was extradited to New Jersey on Jan. 12, 2024, and has been held in the Ocean County Jail since then. There are two detainers on Santiago-Rojas by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, according to jail records.
Investigation after his arrest determined Santiago-Rojas had assaulted the victim and strangled her to the point of unconsciousness, and he was additionally charged with attempted murder on Jan. 22, 2024.
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