VADNAIS HEIGHTS — A Minnesota man was arrested after authorities say he attacked and raped a woman who was walking on a sidewalk.
Just before 8 p.m. October 28, a woman was walking on a sidewalk “when a man ran up from behind, forced her off the sidewalk, and sexually assaulted her,” the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
The woman told authorities that she was talking to a friend on her headphones when a man covered her mouth and told her “he tripped and fell into her,” court documents said, according to WCCO.
The woman said he pushed her on the ground and told her not to scream, KSTP reported. She tried to yell out to her friend to call 911 and tried to get the attention of cars passing, but the man overpowered her and raped her, court documents said, according to the outlet.
“She believed that she was going to die,” court records said, according to WCCO.
After the attack, the woman ran to a home to get help, deputies said. She was taken to a hospital to be treated.
Deputies and K-9s searched the area, and the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office turned to the public for help identifying the suspect.
Then, on October 30, 21-year-old Tristen Alan Leritz was arrested, according to the sheriff’s office.
In an interview with investigators, Leritz said he saw the woman walking and watched her for about five minutes, KTSP reported. He said he rode past her on his bike so he could ambush her, according to the outlet.
Leritz told investigators that when he saw her walking he said “(expletive) it, since I’m a virgin,” WCCO reported.
Leritz sexually assaulted the woman for 15 minutes next to the sidewalk as cars passed by, and he “did not seem to care that he was assaulting her in public,” court records said, according to the Pioneer Press.
“You can’t find a case that rattles the community more than a criminal sexual conduct with a stranger,” Jeff Ramacher, undersheriff with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, told WCCO.
Leritz is charged with one count of criminal sexual conduct, the Pioneer Press reported. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.
By JENNIFER RODRIGUEZ/McClatchy News
Jennifer Rodriguez is a McClatchy National Real-Time reporter covering the Central and Midwest regions. She joined McClatchy in 2023 after covering local news in Youngstown, Ohio, for over six years. Jennifer has made several achievements in her journalism career, including receiving the Robert R. Hare Award in English, the Emerging Leader Justice and Equality Award, the Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and the Distinguished Hispanic Ohioan Award.
