A 31-year-old man targeted a female runner on a Twin Cities trail at random for sexual assault and threatened to kill her, according to a criminal complaint.
Jordan Leipekaki Janusz of Maple Grove was charged Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree criminal sexual conduct, assault and threats of violence in connection with an attack on Jan. 30 on Medicine Lake Regional Trail in Maple Grove.
The charges come about five months after he allegedly assaulted another female runner on the same trail. A misdemeanor assault case was filed stemming from that incident.
Janusz was arrested Tuesday afternoon and remains jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail ahead of a court hearing Wednesday. A message was left with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.
According to the latest charges, Three Rivers Park District police were called to Maple Grove Hospital about a sexual assault and spoke to a woman with numerous facial injuries. She said she was running on Medicine Lake Regional Trail near Rice Lake shortly after 6 a.m. and heard footsteps behind her.
The woman said she turned, and saw a man later identified as Janusz sprinting toward her. Janusz tackled her, and he fell on top of her as she toppled forward.
She screamed for help while wrestling with him, according to the account in the charges. She said he told her, “Don’t say anything. I will kill you.” He then said he wanted sex.
The two continued to struggle as she tried to grab her cellphone and headlamp before he said this was her “lucky day” and ran off.
