Man taken into custody after a woman reported being raped inside a portable restroom at Van Antwerp Park

A man taken into custody after a woman reported being raped inside a portable restroom at Van Antwerp Park has been released after prosecutors declined to authorize charges

Detroit police say they have one man in custody after he allegedly raped a woman in a porta-potty on Sept. 1.

The sexual assault happened around 10 p.m. in Van Antwerp Park south of 8 Mile in Detroit after the suspect approached the victim while she was sitting in her vehicle. 

The woman was waiting for her friend when the assailant approached her with a gun and forced her from her vehicle. 

He walked her at gunpoint to the park, told her she needed to enter a portable toilet that was nearby. When she refused, he fired a single round into the ground. She complied, he entered the toilet and he sexually assaulted her.

Police learned about the assault on social media after the victim started posting about the incident.

The suspect fled the scene on foot while the victim went to the hospital and received a rape kit. She did not call police, who instead started an investigation after noting her posts online.

After starting the investigation, they located a single casing of a firearm in the area where the woman was assaulted and a technician processed the scene. 

The suspect was taken into custody and is expected to be charged with 1st degree criminal sexual conduct.