DETROIT – Charges against two Detroit men in the sexual assault of a 31-year-old woman pulled off her bicycle in Highland Park were dismissed Tuesday during preliminary hearing. Both men were bound over in similar cases in Detroit and Hamtramck.
Aaron Rashard Steward, 22, and Quentin Davon Flemons, 19, are accused of attacking women riding bicycles in Hamtramck and Detroit.
Prosecutors said they were unable to proceed with charges in the Highland Park case. Charges were dismissed without prejudice, so charges could be reinstated at a later date if more evidence is discovered or witnesses come forward.
Both men are charged with kidnapping, assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct, receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle, unarmed robbery, stealing/retaining financial transaction device and three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Steward has also been charged with receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle.
Both men were bound over for trial in the Detroit case and Hamtramck.
Both men were originally being held on $1 million and $500,000 bail, but after hearing the details of the case, the judge determined they were too dangerous to the community and their bond was revoked.
They will remain in the Wayne County Jail as long as the case continues, the judge said.
Highland Park attack
A 31-year-old Highland Park woman off her bicycle July 18, 2016.
The woman was riding her bicycle around 3 a.m. in the area of Second Avenue and West McNichols Road when two men grabbed her and forced her into an alley, police said.
Steward was charged with kidnapping, three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, unarmed robbery and stealing/retaining a financial transaction device.
Flemons has been charged with kidnapping, two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, third-degree criminal sexual conduct, unarmed robbery and stealing/retaining a financial transaction device.
The charges were dismissed without prejudice.
Detroit attack
A 24-year-old Detroit woman was kidnapped Sept. 30 while riding her bicycle near East Milwaukee Avenue and Orleans Street, police said.
Steward and Flemons are accused of pulling her off the bicycle at 6:21 p.m. and forcing her into a vehicle.
"I immediately started yelling and running, hoping someone would hear," she said. "I didn't make it far."
She said the men grabbed her and dragged her into the van. As she described it, the men held her down on a mattress as they drove her to an ATM to empty her bank account.
"I fought," she said. "I grabbed my keys and tried stabbing them. Nothing was working, and the arm around my neck was getting tighter, to the point I couldn't breathe. It then occurred to me that they could easily kill me."
Knowing she had no options, she said she gave up the fight.
"I pretended we could be friends, convincing them to give me back my belongings, including my grandmother's rings," she said.
She went on to say they eventually drove her back to the area of the attack and pushed her out of the van.
Hamtramck attack
Steward and Flemons are both accused in an Oct. 8 kidnapping of a 27-year-old Hamtramck woman.
Police said the woman was riding her bicycle at 6:03 p.m. near Denton and St. Aubin streets when she was pulled into a vehicle.
Steward and Flemons allegedly drove her to an abandoned property in the 1600 block of Leslie Street in Detroit, where she was sexually assaulted and robbed before she could escape, police said.