Neighbors on edge following brazen attempted rape in Harlem; Suspect still at large
NEW YORK -- The NYPD is asking for the public's help to identify a man accused of attempted rape and attempted murder in Harlem.
A 43-year-old woman was attacked on West 123rd Street between Malcolm X and Adam Clayton Powell boulevards on Friday night. As CBS2's Jessi Mitchell reported Monday, neighbors there are sticking together to stay safe.
Late at night, the stretch of brownstones casts dark shadows down the block. The streetlights are few and far between. Neighbors believe that darkness may have contributed to Friday's brazen attack.
Surveillance cameras picked up the purposeful stride of one man wearing a multicolored hoodie with red lettering, a baseball cap, full face covering and blue latex gloves. Police say he punched his victim in the head before dragging her between two parked cars to kick her repeatedly, undress her and try to rape her.
The victim remained unconscious in critical condition through the weekend.
"My nephew said he was coming up behind her and he saw him put on the gloves first and then after that I guess he didn't see the rest," said Wilbert Wright, who has lived on the block for more than 40 years.
Wright is among the neighbors adjusting to crime creeping in.
"I don't come out in the night anymore," she told me, "because so many things are going around that I said, 'No.' I do everything in the day."
Mitchell caught up with one mother walking with her infant son just as she was hearing the news from another neighbor. She did not share her name, but she did share her fears.
"Hearing it being so close to home, and the woman, and having a child and knowing what it once was like walking on the street at night," she said. "It's terrifying. I won't do it anymore."
The feeling is not entirely new for the new mother.
"I actually had to run out to get an infant Tylenol a couple weeks ago, and for the first time I was uncomfortable," she said. "I was scared."
"It was a feeling," she added, when I asked what triggered her fears, "and a kind of replay of all the stories I'm hearing going around the city and knowing that I'm no different than anyone else and just being conscious of that."
People on the block complain of seven-year-old scaffolding, a lack of lights and increasing drug use nearby. They feel an increased police presence would be a minor fix for a major issues.
"I don't have the answer," the mother said, "and I think that's kind of the problem. You look for the right people to have the answers and they don't have the answers either."
While the suspect's face was covered, neighbors are discussing the distinct hoodie he was wearing. Police believe it will help identify him.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.