Police: Video Shows Man Putting On Mask Before Raping Woman In Queens
Updated Sunday, Sept. 6 10:33 a.m.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are looking for a man who they say raped a woman in Queens.
The incident occurred around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday as the 35-year-old victim was walking home from work in Jackson Heights.
Minutes before the attack, police said the suspect is seen on surveillance video putting on a mask and hiding in the bushes, waiting for the victim to walk by.
He then followed her for a few blocks before robbing and raping her, police said. The suspect grabbed the woman, put a sharp object to her throat and pulled her into an alley between two homes on 84th Street, where he raped her, police said.
The suspect got away by running down the alley and climbing over a fence leading to 83rd Street, police said.
The victim was badly shaken up and treated at a local hospital, police said.
Many residents are on now edge.
"I really have a habit of walking at nighttime, so it's really scary. I can't walk alone," one woman told 1010 WINS' Darius Radzius.
"It's messed up," one resident told CBS2's Matt Kozar. "Something like that shouldn't happen. Especially in a neighborhood like this."
"I'm just a little shocked," another resident said.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic male who is 5'4", with a slim build, police said. He was last seen wearing a mask, a dark-colored shirt and jeans.
"It's very scary to hear of something like this, and it gives me second thoughts as to when and where I might be walking," Jennifer Durst, of Jackson Heights, told CBS2's Ilana Gold.