POSSIBLE LINK TO A THIRD RAPE ALONG THE D&R CANAL PATH IN KINGSTON.
By Barbara A. Preston | August 10, 2022
Somerset County women who run, bike, and walk along local public pathways, including the D&R Canal, Six Mile Run Park, and Duke Island Park, may feel a little safer to know that police have arrested a man and charged him with two of three rapes that occurred within the last year. DNA evidence connects him to two rape cases, and possibly a third.
Police arrested Rogelio Calyeca Postrero, 38, of Raritan on August 4 for allegedly masturbating on Nevius Bridge, which is part of a public trail that connects the Duke Farm bike trails in Hillsborough to the Raritan River Greenway.
"We would like to commend the private citizen who called this [Nevius Bridge lewdness] in to the Raritan Police Department, that led to the apprehension of this individual," Somerset County First Assistant Prosecutor Annemarie Mueller said at press conference on August 10.
In addition to charging Postrero with lewdness, the prosecutor subsequently charged him with two sexual assaults.
The first assault occurred in Duke Island Park at 8:45 pm on Sunday, July 18, 2021, in Bridgewater Township and the second sexual assault occurred in Six Mile Park by the D&R Canal at Blackwells Mills and Canal roads at 5:50 pm on Monday, May 16, 2022, in Franklin Township.
Assistant Prosecutor Mueller said Raritan Borough police received a 9-1-1 call reporting a Hispanic male was masturbating in public in the area of the Nevius Street Bridge on Thursday, August 4, at 9:06 am. Upon arrival, Raritan Borough police officers made contact with Postrero, who was in the area of the bridge and matched the description provided by the 9-1-1 caller. Raritan Borough police contacted detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit who responded to investigate.
As a result of the investigation, Postrero was arrested and charged on August 4 with Lewdness, a disorderly person’s offense. During this investigation, police determined that Postrero was using fraudulent identification for employment purposes in a Somerset County restaurant. Police declined to name the restaurant.
Postrero, who had fraudulent permanent resident and social security cards, was charged with two counts of 3rd-degree Knowingly Exhibiting False Documents. The Somerset County Prosecutors Office had previously charged him with possessing false government documents on December 20, 2021.
Postrero was arrested on this historic, wrought iron, Somerset County bridge over the Raritan River. It was built in 1886 and is part of the Somerset County recreational pathway system, open to runners, cyclists, and walkers.
Police investigators determined that Postrero resembled the New Jersey State Police composite sketches and the descriptions provided by the victims of the two sexual assualts that occurred on Duke Island Park on July 18, 2021 and at Six Mile Park in Franklin Township on May 16.
The Montgomery News asked the assistant prosector if Postrero also matched the description of an armed man who approached a woman while she was walking along the D&R Canal in Kingston, forced her off the trail, took her to a nearby location, and raped her. That attack took place on the border of South Brunswick and Plainsboro on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, between 4:30 and 5 pm.
Police Composite sketch of a man who allegedly raped a woman on the D&R Canal near the border of Kingston and Plainsboro.
Assistant Prosecutor Mueller said there is a case in Middlesex County, and the Somerset County Prosector's Office is actively working with them now. The South Brunswick and Plainsboro section of the D&R Canal is in Middlesex County. "I refer questions to the Middlesex County Prosector's Office."
"If there are other victims who are out there, we ask that they come forward," she said.
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Assistant Prosecutor Mueller stated that on July 18, 2021, at 9:07 pm, Bridgewater Township police received a 9-1-1 call reporting a sexual assault in Duke Island Park. Upon arrival, officers met with an adult female victim, a resident of a nearby town, who reported being sexually assaulted by an unknown male while riding her bike in the park.
The victim reported the suspect came up behind her, held a knife to her throat, and demanded money. After she gave him $20, the man dragged her off the path and sexually assaulted her in the nearby bushes. He then fled the area on his bicycle towards Raritan. The victim described the suspect as a Hispanic male approximately 5’4 to 5’6 between 151 and 175 lbs with a medium to stocky build and an olive to dark complexion. The male was reported to be in his 30s with short black hair, wearing a black hood and dark pants.
Detectives from the Bridgewater Police Department and from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes Unit conducted the investigation.
Assistant Prosecutor Mueller then discussed the Six Mile Run Park sexual assault. She said Franklin Township police responded to a 9-1-1 call reporting a sexual assault on Monday, May 16, at 6:03 pm near Blackwells Mills and Canal roads, near the D&R Canal Park. The victim reported to authorities that the male suspect got off his bicycle and tackled her to the ground when she was running on a trail in Six Mile Park. The female victim fought with the male suspect as he sexually assaulted her. The victim eventually fought off her attacker and escaped from the assault, immediately notifying authorities by dialing 9-1-1.
Upon arrival, officers met with an adult female victim, who reported being assaulted by an unknown male while she was running on the trail. Responding Franklin Township police along with officers from Hillsborough Township Police Department, South Brunswick Police Department, and Montgomery Township Police Department proceeded to establish a perimeter in an attempt to locate the suspect.
Detectives from the Franklin Township Police Department along with detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, Sex Crimes Unit, Crime Scene Investigations Unit and New Jersey State Park Police responded to conduct the investigation.
The victim described the suspect as a Hispanic male in his mid 30s, 5’6” to 5’7” and of a heavy build. He was wearing black pants or shorts, a green hoodie, and a blue gator face covering. The suspect is said to have fled the area on a bicycle. The victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment and released.
Once it was determined that defendant Postrero resembled the New Jersey State Police composite sketches, police obtained a Superior Court search warrant for the residence of the defendant. As a result of the search, police found further evidence, including: a bicycle that matched the description provided by the Franklin Township assault victim.
In addition, the NJ State Police Office of Forensic Sciences Central Regional Laboratory confirmed that Postrero’s DNA matched the profile obtained from the Duke Island Park assualt.
Assistant Prosecutor Mueller said authorities charged Postrero on Friday, August 5, with two counts of 1st degree Aggravated Sexual Assault. The defendant remains lodged at the Somerset County Jail awaiting a detention hearing.
Assistant Prosecutor Mueller thanked Chief Raymond Nolte and members of the Raritan Borough Police Department, Chief Paul Payne and members of the Bridgewater Township Police Department, Franklin Township Public Safety Director Quovella M. Maeweather and members of the Franklin Township Police Department, the New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Sciences Central Regional Laboratory, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Franklin Township Resident Agency for their assistance in this investigation.
Mueller says that anyone with information relating to these matters should contact the Somerset County Prosecutors Office Sex Crimes Unit at 908.231.7100 or via the STOPit app.
The STOPit app allows citizens to provide anonymous reports including videos and photos. STOPit can be downloaded to your smart phone for free at the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, access code:
SOMERSETNJ. Information can also be provided through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 888.577.TIPS (8477). All anonymous STOPit reports, and Crime Stopper tips will be kept confidential.
