'This Is Really Scary:' Mugger Attacks Multiple Women In Manhattan
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD is trying to track down a violent mugger targeting women in Manhattan.
"I mean, I'm in shock right now. Honestly, my heart is beating fast right now. This is really scary," a woman, who did not want to be named, told CBS2's Valerie Castro after learning another woman in her building was the victim of a recent assault.
Police say the man waits for just the right moment to strike. He's terrorized four victims in just the last two weeks -- all of them women on the Lower East Side.
In every case, the suspect follows his victims into their buildings once they open the front door, attacking either just inside the lobby or once they reach their apartment, Castro reported.
On Tuesday, a woman in a building on Broome Street was punched in the face in the lobby and several hundred dollars were stolen from her purse.
Two days before that, a woman in a building on Ludlow Street was grabbed from behind in the lobby and punched so hard she had to be hospitalized. Once again, the suspect got away with cash.
And one week ago, a woman was assaulted in the lobby of a building on Eldridge Street.
"Honestly, in any neighborhood for a woman it's different, because we're more easily targeted," the resident told Castro.
Sources tell CBS2 the suspect's method of attack in those four cases is very similar to an attack and attempted rape on a woman overnight near Norfolk and Rivington streets. Video shows a man following the victim from the front door and up the stairs.
Police are now trying to figure out if that case is also connected.