Boyfriend of missing Arizona woman tied to assault of female ASU student
Oct 12, 2017, 3:51 PM | Updated: Oct 13, 2017, 6:39 pm
Charlie Malzhan (Flagstaff Police Department)
(Flagstaff Police Department)
PHOENIX — An Arizona man who is tied to the disappearance of a elementary school teacher allegedly assaulted a female Arizona State University student on the same day the teacher was reported missing.
A spokesperson for the ASU Police Department said an investigation led police to believe that 27-year-old Charlie Malzahn is involved in an assault in one of the university’s dorms on the Tempe campus.
Malzahn allegedly assaulted a female student in a dorm room in the Hassayampa Academic Village just before 10 p.m. on Sunday.
Security footage showed a man in a black baseball cap, white shirt and black pants walking into the dorm’s lobby. A crime alert released by the university after the incident asked the public to call police if they had any information about the incident.
Malzahn was charged in connection to the assault, according to an ASU Police Department spokesperson. He appeared in court on Thursday.
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Malzahn is also tied to the disappearance of Cathryn Gorospe, a 44-year-old teacher at Arrowhead Elementary in Glendale, who was last seen in Flagstaff on Oct. 6 when she bailed Malzahn out of jail after he was arrested on theft and weapons charges.
Gorospe told her roommate that she would be back after driving to Flagstaff, but her roommate called police two days later after not hearing from her.
Malzahn was located in Tucson on Oct. 7, where he used Gorospe’s credit cards. He also contacted acquaintances in Clifton, Arizona in an attempt to get drugs, police said.
One of Malzahn’s acquaintances said he was driving a vehicle that matched the description of Gorospe’s car, which had blood on the inside and parts of the rear bumper and front quarter panel were missing or damaged.
Malzahn was located in Phoenix on Monday in Gorospe’s vehicle. He attempted to flee from officers but crashed the car and allegedly assaulted two police officers in an attempt to escape the police station once he was caught.
According to court paperwork, Malzahn was being fingerprinted by Phoenix Police Department officers when he allegedly attacked them. Police said Malzhan placed his handcuffs around one officer’s head and neck. One officer suffered a nine-inch cut to the back of the head.
Malzahn was incarcerated in Flagstaff after he was found guilty of stealing his sister’s car in August, according to court paperwork.
Malzahn was driving on the Interstate 10 in Tempe with his sister and her children when he became afraid that she “was going to have him ‘sniped’ by a car next to them.”
Malzahn then pulled out a handgun, stopped the vehicle and took the children out. He later called his sister and told her that the vehicle was at a restaurant in Williams. Police arrested Malzahn without incident.
