A 30-year-old man who was arrested earlier this month for attempting to abduct UW-Madison women on or near campus in two separate incidents was charged Monday in the cases.
The defendant, who is scheduled to appear in court later this week, is also on probation for a federal child pornography conviction.
Coleman K. Chung faces counts including attempted kidnapping and armed robbery for the most recent incident in early October, according to a criminal complaint. He also faces charges of attempted robbery and misdemeanor battery for the earlier incident, which reportedly happened Sept. 29.
Chung was arrested on Oct. 10, after a federal probation officer identified him on UW-Madison surveillance footage. Following his arrest, police found in his Monona apartment what seems to be the victim’s hair, which he allegedly cut during the second attack, in a plastic bag in his bedroom.
According to the complaint:
A UW-Madison student told police a man attacked her Oct. 2 as she was walking past the Social Sciences building on Observatory Drive around 1 a.m. The suspect, later identified as Chung, showed the victim a hatchet, told her to stay quiet and get on the ground. He then taped the victim’s hands together and her mouth shut.
Chung walked the victim to a car and told her to get in the trunk. When she resisted, he tried to push her in and struck her with the hatchet several times. She fell, kicked Chung and seized the hatchet. Chung then held a knife to the victim’s throat and told her to drop the hatchet. Once she did, he told her to run.
In the September attack, which was caught on video surveillance, Chung approached a UW-Madison student on the 500 block of North Carroll Street around 1:48 a.m. He attacked her from behind, putting her in a chokehold and reaching for her purse. When the victim screamed and resisted, Chung fled.
An initial appearance hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in the Dane County Circuit Court.
