A 19–year-old man was arraigned Monday at the 77th District Court on multiple felony charges after breaking into Venlo Place Apartments and assaulting two women.
Mecosta County officers apprehended the suspect in Montcalm County after he broke into two adjacent units at approximately 4 a.m. on Saturday.
Mecosta County Sgt. Mike Mohr wrote in a press release nothing appeared to be missing from either unit. The female in one apartment told officers she was assaulted by a suspect who fled.
Another female told police she was woken and “found her pants cut.”
Neither woman was injured, according to Mohr.
Cody Roberts, of Trufant, was lodged in the Mecosta County Jail and is being held on a $1 million bond. He was charged with multiple felonies including one count of attempted criminal sexual assault in the first degree, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.
Marcel Burgler, president of Venlo’ s property management company, said the incident occurred after the complex’s security personnel had gone home for the night.
“Obviously, this is a terrible situation, and it’s not something we take lightly,” Burgler said. “We will immediately be increasing our security hours. We will not let this happen again.”
Venlo has had no similar incidents in recent history, according to Burgler.
Roberts, who is not a Ferris student, was also charged with seven counts of criminal sexual conduct in varying degrees and three counts of home invasion in varying degrees. He was arrested with the help of Michigan State Police troopers from the Mount Pleasant post.
The final pretrial conference was scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 22. An update on the case was not available at press time.
If an agreement was not reached at the pretrial conference, a preliminary examination will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at the Mecosta County courthouse.