A man has been arrested in connection with an assault in Portland and a rape in Gresham

A man accused of assaulting a woman at a Portland park also has been charged in a rape that occurred in Gresham in June.

Portland police arrested 24-year-old Kenneth Wayne Couch on July 30, the day after a woman was attacked at Hoyt Arboretum. He is being held on $260,000 bail.

Couch appeared in Multnomah County Circuit Court on July 31. Prosecutors said he was arraigned on two counts of strangulation and one count of rape related to a June 24 case in Gresham.

Couch was also arraigned on one charge of strangulation and one charge of third-degree robbery in connection with the July 29 Hoyt Arboretum attack.

Hoyt pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and will face a grand jury Monday, Aug. 6. If the jury indicts Couch, he will appear in court again Wednesday, Aug. 8.

Gresham

Couch allegedly raped and strangled a 25-year-old woman Sunday, June 24, on the Springwater Trail near Southwest Pleasant View Drive, according to Gresham police.

Gresham Police Sgt. Claudio Grandjean said police have been trying to find Couch since the incident but couldn’t locate him because he is a transient new to the area.

When Portland police arrested Couch on Monday, records indicated he was also a suspect in the Gresham case.

Portland

Hoyt Arboretum guests answered a woman’s screams at about 11 a.m. Sunday, July 29.

Michele Dickson, the woman, told police a man approached her and suddenly grabbed her neck. He then held her in a chokehold, and she screamed and fought back.

Park guests at the arboretum heard Dickson’s screams and rushed to help. More than 10 Portland Police Bureau units and a police canine also responded.

Police said the suspect fled from the trail through a meadow toward the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Oregon Zoo officials discovered a camp with a man matching the suspect’s description and notified park rangers.

The Outlook’s news partner KOIN Local 6 contributed to this story.