Newark – A male suspect was arrested last night by Essex County sheriff’s detectives and charged with the brutal attack on a 34-year-old female victim at Branch Brook Park in the late Saturday evening/early Sunday morning hours of July 8 – 9, 2017.
Authorities tracked Mr. Wilson to a halfway house on Newark’s Fulton Street where he was taken into custody without incident and charged him with attempted murder and aggravated assault.
“Our parks are safe havens for our residents and their children,” the sheriff noted. “Our department took this crime personally and invested every resource at our disposal in solving this vicious attack.”
“We commend our detectives who operated under the supervision of Captain Vito D’Alessio and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit which assisted us throughout this investigation,” Sheriff Fontoura said. “Bringing this case to a quick and successful conclusion entailed good old fashioned police work and modern technology. We knocked on every door, followed every lead and gained our biggest break through video surveillance cameras in the area which revealed the suspect and the victim walking together on the night of the crime.”
Fontoura added that Wilson had been on parole for one year and one day before the attack which took place just yards away from the New Jersey Light Rail Station on Heller Parkway.
**The charges lodged against Mr. Wilson are mere accusations. He IS considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.**
Wilson is lodged at the county jail where he awaits a bail hearing on today’s charges.