[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A 21-year-old man in Minnesota has been arrested in connection with an absolutely awful — and mind-boggling — sexual assault.
Tristen Alan Leritz (pictured above, in his mugshot) was arrested back on the day before Halloween last week in connection with an alleged sexual attack on a 51-year-old woman in the city of Vadnais Heights, Minnesota.
According to a release from the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, Leritz allegedly snuck up behind the unidentified victim while she was out for a walk one day the week prior. Leritz reportedly walked up behind her and accosted her before “dragging her off the sidewalk into a secluded area, and sexually assaulting her,” according to a statement from the sheriff’s office. Whoa…
Thankfully, the woman was on the phone with a friend at the time she was allegedly attacked. She yelled out for her friend to call 911 as soon as she was assaulted, and the friend did just that.
Still, in the time it took for the friend to call 911 and then for that woman and the cops to figure out where exactly the victim had been walking, multiple media outlets from the Minneapolis area report that Leritz dragged the woman into bushes off the sidewalk, covered her mouth, and strangled her as he began to sexually assault her.
Per the police complaint cited by the Pioneer Press and others, the assault lasted about 15 minutes. The complaint read:
“The suspect did not seem to care that he was assaulting her in public.”
Jeez…
According to the statement from the sheriff’s office, the victim “fought hard, knocked his glasses off, and bit his hand.” After the attack, Leritz managed to get away before the cops could catch him. However, the victim reported the incident so quickly and thoroughly — not to mention how they had the assailant’s glasses on scene — that they were eventually able to piece the event together.
In a statement to local news outlets Fox 10 News and CBS Minneapolis, Ramsey County Undersheriff Jeff Ramacher said that information about the specific pair of glasses and other details from the scene tipped off the accused young man’s family. In turn, they reported him to police.
After he was arrested, Leritz allegedly admitted to investigators that he did in fact commit the assault. And that’s the thing: the reason he gave for the attack is beyond vile.
Per KSTP News and others citing the criminal complaint, Leritz allegedly saw the woman walking alone just before the attack and thought this to himself as he decided to go after her:
“F**k it, since I’m a virgin.”
What. The. F**k.
We honestly don’t even know where to begin with that…
Per People in a report on Wednesday that cites the sheriff’s office, Leritz is still awaiting formal charges for the alleged assault. That outlet also reports that online court records indicate he was previously convicted in 2024 for stealing a car.
For more information on violence against women, go to https://www.justice.gov/ovw/resources-for-survivors.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office]
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