The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of a Blacksburg man in North Carolina following a sexual assault investigation. The office said deputies responded to a reported sexual assault in the Merrimac Road area of Blacksburg on May 19, gathered information from the victim and family, collected scene evidence and suspect details, issued a warrant for Castillo Alberto Bruzual of Blacksburg, and coordinated with U.S. Marshals task forces before Bruzual was arrested May 20 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, investigators identified Castillo Alberto Bruzual as the suspect after responding to the incident and worked with federal authorities to facilitate his apprehension. The sheriff’s office provides uniformed patrols, criminal investigations, civil process, corrections and courtroom security, and other services. The office has been accredited by the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission since 1999, according to Montgomery County.
Montgomery County recorded a violent crime rate of 147.9 per 100,000 residents in 2024, compared with 112.0 per 100,000 residents in 2015. The county recorded a property crime rate of 1,105.5 per 100,000 residents in 2024, compared with 1,185.6 per 100,000 residents in 2015, according to state data.
An estimated 443,635 people age 12 or older experience sexual violence each year in the United States. More than half of sexual violence victims are ages 18 to 34, according to RAINN.