NEWS RELEASE
MICHIGAN STATE POLICE
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GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, Mich. - On Monday, July 15 in the early evening, Benzie County Central Dispatch broadcasted an assault in progress. The suspect, who was on parole for Domestic Violence Third Offense, was ramming his car into his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle as they were driving down the roadway.
The victim’s vehicle was occupied by three small children. Troopers from the Michigan State Police Traverse City Post responded to the location and the suspect vehicle drove off into hiding. Troopers broadcasted a multi-county BOL for the suspect. They coordinated with local law enforcement units to intercept the suspect.
Troopers asked the victim to call the suspect and request he meet her at a local gas station. The suspect was observed driving towards the gas station. Troopers and deputies from the Grand Traverse County and Benzie County Sheriff’s Office stopped the vehicle and arrested 24-year-old Rafael Diego Rocha from Traverse City.
Rocha was lodged in the Grand Traverse County Jail. Rocha was arraigned this afternoon on the 86th District Court in Grand Traverse County on four counts Assault with a Dangerous Weapon and Habitual Offender Third. He remains in the Grand Traverse County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
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