#NJ authorities call on public to help identify sex assault suspect

New Jersey authorities are turning to the public in hopes of zeroing in on a sexual assault suspect wanted in an attack two months ago.

The alleged attacker preyed on the 29-year-old woman as she walked to work in the early morning hours of July 23, forcing her into an alley near South Broad Street and Chestnut Avenue and sexually assaulting her, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said Friday.

He is described as a heavyset black male with dark hair, possibly in his 30s.

Investigators from the prosecutor’s office, along with Trenton police, have identified a person of interest but are now calling on the public for more information that could help prevent another attack.

“We are getting calls to the tip line telling us there are people who know who did it,” Mercer County Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit Sgt. Joe Paglione said in a statement. “They are giving us drips and drabs and ‘word on the street,’ but we need more. We just need that last piece of information to take a dangerous man off of the street and stop this from happening to the next victim.”

Trenton police first released images of the suspect from a security camera depicting him on a street in early August, NJ.com reported.

Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri cited press reports in an unrelated sex assault case that led to additional victims coming forward after the suspect was charged with victimizing two women during gatherings at his house.

Eridson M. Rodriguez, 26, of Hamilton, was arrested earlier this month after being accused by the 19- and 20-year-old women of sexually assaulting them in separate incidents as they were intoxicated and incapacitated at his home, NJ.com reported.

“Law enforcement can perform its job so much more effectively when the public and media help,” Onofri said while referencing Rodriguez’s arrest. “This is what can happen when we all work together for justice.”

A Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman told The Post she had no update to provide in the Trenton attack as of early Monday.

Anyone with information about the suspect’s identity is asked to contact the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office at (609) 273-0065 or Trenton police at (609) 989-4155.