Alleged Sexual and Felonious Assault at Deerpath Leads to Arrest (Updated)

See update at end of article.

East Lansing Police arrested a 25-year-old East Lansing man early Saturday morning for an alleged sexual assault that occurred at Deerpath Apartments, according to a press release from ELPD.

The press release states that officers discovered an open door to the apartment in which the alleged assault occurred and that “officers entered the apartment and immediately intervened, stopped the assault and took the alleged perpetrator into custody.” 

According to the press release, the victim had “non-life-threatening physical injuries” and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

The press release, sent on Monday afternoon, also included information that the suspect police arrested was arraigned on Monday, Dec. 14, at the 54B District Court. The man arrested, [name redacted; see update below], faces several charges: first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, and a pair of assault charges — ”with intent to do great bodily harm” and felonious assault. [Redacted name] was sent to the Ingham County Jail, according to the release.

The release also included a photo of [redacted name], something not always included in the press releases ELPD sends to media outlets. 

When asked about the reasons for sending out a press release on this particular incident given that a suspect was apprehended, East Lansing Deputy Police Chief Steve Gonzalez told ELi, “We make an effort, in accordance with our Media Relations policy [at ELPD], to prepare press releases on ‘major crimes, major incidents, or unusual events.’ This was a significant, and particularly violent, incident that warranted a press release.”

At Monday evening’s meeting of the Study Committee on an Independent Police Oversight Commission, Gonzalez also said a social worker had been dispatched for an incident over the weekend. The social worker is part of the new police realignment in East Lansing. 

Gonzalez told ELi that the social worker was dispatched to a different incident, not this alleged sexual assault on Saturday. But he said that a social worker will be reaching out to the alleged victim to offer help and other resources.

UPDATE: On Feb. 16, 2020, we were contacted by Christopher B. Wickman, attorney for the man accused, advising us that, “law enforcement reviewed a recording of the alleged criminal actions and decided to dismiss the charges against him believing he did not commit any crime. The paperwork dismissing the charges signed by Judge Larkin is attached for your review.” Wickman asked us to remove the article or at least the accused’s name: “I’m trying to do my utmost to make sure that these false allegations do not follow him forever and that he can have a clean slate to work from as he continues his life forward.” Accordingly we have removed the photo and name of the accused, following a discussion of the ELi reporter and editorial team.

Note: The headline of this article was changed from “Alleged Violent Sexual Assault…” to “Alleged Sexual and Felonious Assault…” on Jan. 14, 2020.

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