Rough Backgrounds
Arroyo, a paranoid schizophrenic, faces second-degree sexual assault after he allegedly stripped off the male victim’s pants and underwear while he was asleep in his cell and used his fingers to penetrate his anus, according to the criminal complaint obtained by The Trentonian.
When he was interviewed by a detective, Arroyo admitted to violating the male patient who was so enraged he wanted to fight him, the complaint states.
Arroyo has had a troubled history since being committed to Ann Klein from the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center in 2004.
He made national news in 2003 when the then-17year-old allegedly stabbed his parents to death in their Newark area home because he didn’t like the breakfast his mother cooked, according to news reports.
The New York Times reported that his parents had complained to the police and social service workers that their son was dangerous but their concerns went unheeded.
Police discovered Arroyo at a grocery store where he had asked to change his bloody clothes, the Times reported.
A minister who knew the family had asked Arroyo if he knew what he had done to his parents, and “he said no,” according to the Times.
One of the security guards interviewed by The Trentonian was very familiar with Arroyo, calling him “legitimately insane.”
He said Arroyo often talks to himself and once mentioned rubbing oil on
his skin that could make his fingers fall off.
Court records show the other alleged participants in last week’s gang rape also have extensive criminal backgrounds:
• Works, also known as Darin Works, has a history of committing crimes in Essex County. He pleaded guilty in 2013 to fourthdegree stalking for something that happened in Newark on May 16, 2012. He received three years of non-custodial probation in that case. In another case, he was arrested Jan. 7, 2014, in connection with a Newark robbery. He has been indicted on first-degree robbery charges in that case, which remains open. Court records list Works’ case status as “inactive lacks fitness,” which suggests he is incompetent to stand trial, true for many patients at Ann Klein.
• Battle has a long criminal rap sheet. He was arrested Feb. 13, 2017, on conspiracy to commit robbery charges in Winslow Township in Camden County. He was later indicted on second-degree robbery charges and ordered to pretrial detention in the case, which remains active. He has also been charged in connection with an aggravated assault and robbery that occurred in Monroe Township in Gloucester County. In another case, Battle was indicted in 2017 on conspiracy to commit burglary for an incident that occurred in Glassboro in Gloucester County in December 2016. That case remains active. In another case, Battle pleaded guilty in 2015 to third-degree theft by unlawful taking and received 364 days of county jail incarceration to be followed by three years of probation.
• Freeman has a history of being found not guilty by reason of insanity. This was the case for a terroristic threats case and a bail jumping case several years ago. Freeman was previously sentenced to four years of incarceration for a theft he committed in 2010 in Middle Township in Cape May County. He also served prior stints in the slammer for drug possession, absconding from parole and conspiracy to commit robbery.