Police release sketch after woman attacked in Central Park
NEW YORK - Police released a sketch of the man they say sexually assaulted a woman while she was sunbathing earlier this week in Central Park.
The NYPD said the man exposed himself and then tackled the woman.
It happened in broad daylight Monday near West Drive and 104th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
Police said the 21-year-old victim was sunbathing alone when she was attacked.
"She sees a male, Black, coming toward her, exposing himself. She screams and gets up to run. He tackles her from behind," NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said Monday.
She was able to fight the man off, and he ran away.
Investigators said they were searching for a man, believed to be in his 30s, with a medium build and curly hair.
Detectives used drones to scour the Great Hill section of the park, and searched the surrounding area for possible surveillance images.
Central Park random attacks, rise in robberies
So far this year, several random attacks have been reported in the park, including a rock thrown at "Boardwalk Empire" actor Michael Stuhlbarg in May and a woman who was hit with a hammer hours later.
About a month later, two people were robbed at gunpoint two days apart.
NYPD crime statistics through April 21 showed a spike in robberies in the Central Park Precinct, up from 3 to start the year in 2023 to 15 during the same period this year.
The Central Park Conservancy has a map that shows where all the emergency call boxes are located in the park.
Anyone with information about the latest attack is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.