Suspect Charged In Attempted Rape On Lower East Side
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A suspect was arrested and charged Friday with the attempted rape of a woman in a Lower East Side building last month.
Gabriel Bulina, 18, of Staten Island, was charged Friday with attempted rape, sexually motivated burglary, sex abuse, and forcible touching in the incident on Saturday, April 23, police said.
It was around 3:20 p.m. that day at 90 Pitt St., near Stanton Street, when the 24-year-old victim got into her apartment elevator and was followed by a young man. Police said the suspect groped and fondled the woman before she was able to escape.
"As she exits the elevator, he takes her by the back of the neck and grabs her by the behind and pushes her to the side," neighbor Julian Errico told CBS2's Steve Langford at the time.
The suspect followed the young woman to an apartment, but fled, according to police, when a man from inside this apartment ran to the door to see what was going on. The man said the woman was doing "fine" a couple of days later.
Bulina was arrested at 6:45 a.m. Friday on a tip, police said.