WINONA, Minn. — A Winona man accused of choking a woman he met in a bar last week was arrested Friday evening in a traffic stop near Huff and King in the Winona State University neighborhood. Paul Jonathan Ortiz, Jr., 24, was arrested without resistance. Police said, however, that they pointed a taser at Ortiz because of the horrific and violent nature of the crime. Ortizwas jailed pending a review of these charges recommended by police: Felony strangulation, fear-instilling assault, and harm-causing assault. Police had been looking for Ortiz after a woman said she was attacked early Sunday after a man walked her home. The woman said that she was pushed by the assailant, that he then got on top of her, that he hit her, and that he attempted to strangle her. The woman said she managed to crawl away and get under a day bed, but the assailant, she said, pulled her out and attempted to choke her again, this time with his hands over her nostrils. She escaped out a back door and sought help.
Ortiz: Accused of persistent choking attack on woman