Steven Porter

sporter@jconline.com

West Lafayette resident Boda Wu, 21, was charged Tuesday with criminal confinement and battery after he allegedly choked a Purdue University student on campus.

The victim told investigators she was on her way to board a bus for a student organization trip when Wu, whom she’d never met, approached her without saying a word and wrapped a white phone cord around her neck, court documents state.

After the woman was able to free herself from the cord and scream for help, Wu allegedly got on top of her and began squeezing her throat with both his hands, preventing her from breathing or screaming, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Several people who heard the woman scream then came to her aid, striking Wu in the head and pulling him off the victim, court documents state.

Douglas Laffoon, a corrections officer for Newton County, was preparing to drive the bus of students to their event when the attack took place about 9 a.m. Aug. 31 on Purdue Mall Drive.

Laffoon placed Wu on the ground and stood over him until Purdue police arrived, court documents state.

Wu was charged with criminal confinement while armed with a deadly weapon, a Level 3 felony; battery by means of a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony; criminal confinement resulting in bodily injury, a Level 5 felony; strangulation, a Level 6 felony; and battery, a Level 6 felony.

Purdue police Detective Michael Boesch reportedly observed serious injuries to the victim, including “bruising and abrasions on her throat and jaw, scratches and bruising to her shoulder” and a small hemorrhage on the white of her eye, the affidavit states.

Although the probable cause affidavit makes no mention of a possible motive, investigators plan to pore over Wu’s personal effects for answers.

A search warrant signed Sept. 2 by Tippecanoe County Magistrate Sean Persin authorized police to look for evidence in the items Wu brought with him to Tippecanoe County Jail.

The warrant expressly permits detectives to forensically examine any electronic devices in Wu’s possession for “any phone numbers, internet activity, text messages, emails, contact lists, search history, notes, documents or other electronically stored data or information which may be evidence of Wu’s state of mind or motive, would show any knowledge of or contact with Wu’s alleged victims, or would be evidence related to committing battery/assault offenses.”

The document mentions multiple victims because officers believe Wu was involved in another unprovoked on-campus attack Aug. 30. Two people were en route to the student union when a man matching Wu’s description began punching and kicking them, court documents state.