Jersey Shore Man Charged with Attempted Murder

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced this week that they have charged a 31-year-old man from Point Pleasant in connection with an attempted murder that took place in the borough in August of 2022.

The man, 31-year-old man Juan Santiago-Rojas, 31, of Point Pleasant, was captured in Wilmington, NC.  The Ocean County Prosecutor's office put out a statement,

Officers from the Point Pleasant Borough Police Department responded to a residence on Butler Avenue for a report of an unconscious female.  Responding Officers found the unconscious female victim with serious injuries to her head and neck area.  The victim was thereafter transported to Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center in Brick Township.  Due to the nature and extent of her injuries, the victim was transferred to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where she was treated and eventually released.

In December of 2023, police in Wilmington, North Carolina picked up Santiago-Rojas and a month later, Santiago Rojas was extradited to New Jersey.

Authorities announced that,

Further investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit indicated that Santiago-Rojas assaulted the victim and strangled her to the point of unconsciousness on August 22, 2022.  As a consequence, Santiago-Rojas was additionally charged with Attempted Murder on January 22, 2024.  Santiago-Rojas was served with the new charge by way of complaint-warrant at the Ocean County Jail.

Ocean County Prosecutor Billhimer expressed gratitude to the many law enforcement agencies who helped bring Santiago-Rojas to justice.  Over 10 different agencies were involved in tracking and bringing this fugitive to justice.

The Prosecutor's office reminds us that the above charges are accusations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.  R.P.C.  3.6(b)(6).

ocponj.gov/point-pleasant-borough-man-charged-with-attempted-murder/