Team member faces sexual assault charges

Arrested in New York; fellow student reported incident

A member of the UConn soccer team was arrested Monday on a fugitive from justice charge after a five-week investigation found he violently sexually assaulted a fellow student multiple times, according to prosecutors.

Ziyad Fekri, 21, was taken into custody by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force in New York. He faces two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault and one count of unlawful restraint when he returns to Superior Court in Rockville.

Fekri was previously arrested on Feb. 15 after a UConn student reported to university police she had been assaulted by a fellow student, prosecutors said. The student was identified as Fekri. He was charged then with second-degree assault, third-degree assault, disorderly conduct and first-degree unlawful restraint. He was released on $75,000 bond and a protective order was issued for the victim.

Following that arrest, campus police continued to look into the assault, prosecutors said.

“It was determined that Fekri was responsible for a number of violent assaults over the course of a monthlong time period against the victim,” police said.

“The assaults escalated as time progressed and included pulling of hair, grabbing the victim from behind around the neck, punching her in the face with closed fists, cutting the victim with a knife and two sexual assaults at knifepoint.”

Multiple witnesses provided sworn written statements, prosecutors said. On Friday, they were able to secure an arrest warrant for Fekri but weren’t able to find him at his assigned university housing, they added.

“Further investigation showed he was staying with friends in Elmsford, New York,” prosecutors said.

With help from the FBI, officers were able to locate Fekri.

Hewas suspended from the team after the reported assault and his Feb. 15 arrest. Fekri is still an enrolled student, but not living in campus housing or taking in-person courses, university spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said.

He now awaits extradition back to Connecticut.

Fekri, a senior, transferred to UConn from the University of Louisville in 2019.