UPDATE: 7:23 p.m. – Kocsis is wanted in connection with an incident that took place earlier in the morning in Sedgwick County, according to the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s office.
A woman, 27, called 911 at 6:30 a.m. to report that someone had broken into her home, sexually assaulted her and stolen her 2002 Dodge Caravan.
Kocsis was found after a farmer spotted the van in rural Cowley County around 7:15 a.m. He fled, but was later apprehended.
The woman was taken to the hospital for treatment.
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Sedgwick County officials did not identify the suspect by name in a written statement to the media. The sexual assault case will be investigated and referred to the district attorney’s office for prosecution.
A manhunt in Cowley County Tuesday morning led to the arrest of a man driving a stolen Dodge van connected to a Sedgwick County home invasion robbery and sexual assault investigation, authorities said.
Bradley R. Kocsis, 22, was arrested and held in Winfield, Cowley undersheriff Bill Mueller said. Kocsis was held on a count of possession of stolen property and was picked up by Sedgwick County authorities Tuesday afternoon.
He was arrested after a two-and-a-half hour pursuit that began when Kocsis posed as a stranded motorist delivering newspapers. He fled from the deputy after getting a ride to Winfield.
Around 7:15 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to an area near 142nd Rd. and 51st Rd. for a report of a suspicious van with Sedgwick plates that was in the area.
The deputy eventually tracked down the man who is now believed to be Kocsis and inquired about the van. But an initial check of the vehicle’s tag came back clear because it had yet to be reported stolen.
"We probably missed knowing that by a matter of minutes," Mueller said. "If we’d known it had been stolen to begin with, it would’ve been an entirely different story."
Instead Kocsis told a deputy that he was a new paper delivery person who was lost and confused about the route. He said a flat tire on his van had slowed him down.
Kocsis had no driver’s license and provided authorities with a phony name. He claimed to have relatives in Winfield that could help him out.
The deputy gave Kocsis a ride to a home on W. Fifth in Winfield. Mueller said it’s not uncommon for a deputy to provide motorists with assistance.
The deputy watched as Kocsis approached the house, ostensibly to contact a family member and get help. But the suspect approached the house, went around the side of the home and took off.
That’s when authorities ran the tag for the van a second time and learned it had been reported as stolen in connection with a home-invasion robbery in the Wichita area.
The Sedgwick County case involved a woman who was sexually assaulted and had her van stolen.
The suspect is said to have knocked on doors in the Winfield area and attempted to seek others help in eluding police.
He was arrested in the 100 block of 7th around 9:55 a.m.
Kocsis has a previous felony conviction for eluding authorities in Johnson County in 2005, when he was 18, according to state corrections records.
