Prison for man who attacked jogger along river near downtown Wichita

The man who attacked and tried to rape a woman jogging on a bike path along the Arkansas River near downtown is going to prison.

Sedgwick County Judge Kevin O’Connor on Monday ordered Ronald Knittle to serve 25 years, 7 months for the March 26 assault, according to Sedgwick County District Court records.

A police affidavit released earlier this year says Knittle, 36, approached the woman as she was running near McLean Boulevard and Elizabeth around 1:40 p.m. March 26 and asked her what time it was. When she tried to walk around him, he cornered her in a grassy area, pushed her down, pulled her hair and punched her head and face.

At one point while she was screaming and trying to fend him off, Knittle threatened to “beat her to death,” the affidavit said the woman told police. He ran after her when she tried to escape, pulled off her shoes and socks and attempted to sexually assault her, the affidavit says.

A City of Wichita employee mowing along the banks noticed the attack and started honking the horn on his tractor to get Knittle’s attention.

When Knittle looked toward the noise, the woman ran away and flagged down vehicles driving along McLean to help her.

An officer who responded to the city employee’s 911 call followed Knittle as he fled on a bicycle, used a stun gun on him after he refused to comply to police orders and arrested him. Knittle had the woman’s cellphone and her glasses on him when he was taken into custody. He also had a can of solvent and started huffing — inhaling its contents to get high — at the time of his arrest, the affidavit says.

A jury in August convicted Knittle of attempted rape, criminal threat, interference with a law enforcement officer, theft and aggravated kidnapping, according to court records. Police have said the attack was random.

This story was originally published November 19, 2018 at 4:37 PM.