Woman plays dead to escape man strangling her in vacant lot, Wisconsin cops say

A Wisconsin woman was dragged into a vacant lot and attacked, but she survived by playing dead, police said.

The 57-year-old woman was walking to a gas station on Madison’s northwest side when a man assaulted her at about 11:20 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, according to a police news release.

The man, later identified as 39-year-old Ismael Hernandez-Padilla, pulled the woman into an empty lot, thenstrangled and punched her, police said. She pretended to die, and the man left.

After he was gone, the woman started walking to a police station, but officers spotted her before she arrived and spoke with her, according to police.

An investigation was launched, and police say they arrested Hernandez-Padilla on charges of strangulation, battery, and bail jumping.