Police: Grosse Pointe rape suspect attempts suicide on Day 1 of trial

On the first day of trial, with his jury just picked, a man charged with raping a Grosse Pointe Woods woman at gunpoint attempted suicide in jail by overdosing on pills.

According to Grosse Pointe Farms Lt. Rich Rosati, the suspect was hospitalized after trying to kill himself sometime Monday at the Wayne County Jail. His trial could resume as early as Wednesday.

The suspect is Gerald Day, 28, of Detroit, whom police describe as a "very dangerous sociopath" who allegedly went on a crime spree last April, raping one woman and trying to rape a 12-year-old Grosse Pointe girl after breaking into her home in the middle of the night.

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According to Rosati, Day struck three homes in a one-week period. First, he broke into a Grosse Pointe Woods house and raped a 37-year-old woman at gunpoint in her kitchen while her 4-year-old child was in a nearby room, he said. Day, who was charged in that incident, also demanded the victim reveal the location of her personal possessions, according to Wayne County prosecutors. He left on foot.

A week later, Rosati said, Day broke into a 12-year-old girl's home in Grosse Pointe City at 4 a.m. He entered through a window, went to the girl's room and got her into the basement, where he allegedly tried to rape her but the girl managed to escape, he said.

Charges were not filed in that case, though Rosati could not elaborate.

The following day, he said, Day tried breaking into another house on Lothrop in Grosse Pointe Farms, but someone saw him and police eventually caught him on Madison Street in the Farms following a six-hour manhunt. He had dropped his gun and tried to go back for it when he was arrested, he said.

"He's an extremely dangerous individual," Rosati said.

Day is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct and several other crimes. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Tresa Baldas can be contacted at tbaldas@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @Tbaldas