Wisconsin Police arrested a 26-year-old man in connection with a brutal attack on a University of Wisconsin student who was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled on Sunday.
The crimes and charges
Brandon A. Thompson, a local resident, was arrested on charges of first-degree sexual assault, first-degree reckless injury and strangulation, according to Madison police.
Thompson was arrested at about 12:20 am Wednesday and booked into the Dane County Jail at around 7am, according to jail records.
The student had been found with life-threatening injuries at about 3:20 am Sunday in between two houses in Madison, Wisconsin.
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The female student was reportedly ‘snatched off the street by a stranger and dragged between two houses’ – where a neighbor heard her cries for help.
A neighbor told WISN 12 News the young woman, 20, was walking on a sidewalk when she was forced into an area between two houses at Bedford and Wilson streets, where a homeowner heard her crying for help.
What eye witnesses say
Friends claimed the woman was strangled, beaten and sexually assaulted by the random assailant and left with a broken jaw, according to WISN-12.
She is currently in critical condition but expected to survive.
Madison police said the incident appears to be a stranger assault.
Following the incident, authorities launched a manhunt for her attacker.
Officers were called by a neighbor to the 500 block of West Wilson Street in the early hours of Sunday morning, with fellow students ‘terrified’ of a repeat attack.
University of Wisconsin student Azza Bayoudh said she was petrified when cops began knocking on student’s doors at 4am after the attack.
‘It was just kind of terrifying because I was like, that kind of could’ve been me,’ Bayoudh said to WISN 12.
‘So that’s what scared me. So we have our doors locked now and we hope they catch whoever it was.’
The University sent out an email regarding the incident, warning student to remain ‘vigilant’ and ‘maintain awareness of their safety and surroundings.’
