By Matthew Gruchow and Josh Verges | ArgusLeader.com
Imprisoned for almost his entire adult life, a Sioux Falls man was released on parole only three months before he was arrested again Friday for the brutal rape of a 22-year-old woman from Ethiopia.
Christopher Kryger, 34, made his first court appearance Monday on charges of first-degree kidnapping and burglary, aggravated assault and forcible rape.
Bond was set at $250,000 cash.
Police say Kryger broke into the woman’s apartment Friday evening in the 600 block of West Bennett Street and assaulted her physically and sexually.
“We don’t have any clue how he picked that house,” police spokesman Sam Clemens said. “It’s fairly rare; we don’t have rapes that occur when the victim and suspect have no idea who each other are.”
The past three months of Kryger’s life have been the first of relative freedom since age 18.
He spent almost 16 years in prison before he was paroled Sept. 3 – 11 years before his full prison term was up – under the Community Transition Program, which helps offenders find work and save money.
He had been in prison on two aggravated assault convictions, the arrest for which came in October 1992, only weeks after two other arrests for starting a fire in an occupied home and grand theft and burglary.
Friday’s apparently random attack came to an end when the victim’s brothers arrived at the apartment, chased Kryger down the hallway and detained him until police officers arrived.
Officers had to resuscitate the woman, who did not appear to be breathing. She was taken to a hospital, but her injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
Tesfaye Balcha, who lives in an neighboring apartment building, said he and the woman worked together for several months at a nearby plastics business.
Balcha and the woman both are Ethiopian, he said.
“She is a nice woman,” he said. “She is a good girl.”
Balcha said the assault scares him.
“We’re a little afraid now,” he said. “We get worried that maybe something like this might happen to us.”
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 23, but the date could change if Kryger is indicted.