POINT PLEASANT BOROUGH, NJ — Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced the charge of Attempted Murder against Juan Santiago-Rojas, 31, of Point Pleasant Borough. The charge, announced on January 22, 2024, stems from an assault that occurred on August 22, 2022.
On the day of the incident, Point Pleasant Borough Police Department officers responded to a report of an unconscious female at a residence on Butler Avenue. They found the victim with severe head and neck injuries. She was initially taken to Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center in Brick Township and later transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for further treatment. She was eventually released from the hospital.
The ensuing investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, Major Crime Unit, Point Pleasant Borough Police Department, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, revealed Santiago-Rojas as the assailant. He was originally charged with Aggravated Assault on August 23, 2022, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. His name was entered into the National Crime Information Center database as a fugitive from justice.
Santiago-Rojas was apprehended in Wilmington, North Carolina, on December 8, 2023, and extradited to New Jersey on January 12, 2024. He is currently held in the Ocean County Jail awaiting a detention hearing.
Additional investigation led to the upgraded charge of Attempted Murder based on evidence indicating Santiago-Rojas assaulted and strangled the victim to unconsciousness. He was served with the new charge at the Ocean County Jail.