Police Make Arrest Following Rape Of 78-Year-Old Woman In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police announced on Monday that a man has been arrested in the rape of a 78-year-old woman in Queens.
Police said both the accused and the victim were homeless.
Earlier Monday, police identified 30-year-old Ryan Bayard as the alleged attacker. He was charged with rape and criminal sex act.
Police said Bayard raped the woman at around 6:30 a.m. Sunday inside a house on 148th Avenue near 241st Street in Rosedale.
"I need that dude Ryan off the streets right now. He got dreads and a chipped tooth. You can't miss him," Bobby Bodrick, the victim's son, told CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas.
UPDATE: Ryan Bayard, the parolee wanted for breaking into the Queens home of a 78-yr-old woman and raping her in her bed, has been APPREHENDED. Excellent work by @NYPDSVU and all involved. pic.twitter.com/el1ygaLids
— Chief Kenneth Corey (@NYPDChiefOfDept) June 3, 2019
Overgrown grass creates a perimeter around the house. The doors are locked and boarded up. The utilities are off and the front window is shattered. In 2012, the Department of Buildings deemed the home unsafe and ordered it to be sealed. That violation is still active, Cline-Thomas reported.
Bodrick said he and his mother returned to the home that's in foreclosure after being evicted from another property.
"My mother owns this house. She had the deed to it. We're either trying to get the mortgage back or do a short sale," Bodrick said.
Neighbors told CBS2 that squatters frequent the property.
"That's what we know: Everyone moved out. It was locked, so there shouldn't be anyone living in that house," neighbor Heather Palmer said.
"They've been living in there with no heat, no hot water, no electricity. So it's kind of confusing," added neighbor Melissa Graham.
News about the attack spread quickly as crime scene investigators arrived, took pictures and removed bags of evidence.
"I drive along here all the time. I notice this house, but I never notice this one," Rosedale resident Michelle March said.
"I live right there and I didn't know someone lives in the house," resident Patricia McLaughlin added.
The family said the victim is out of the hospital and is staying with her daughter. Bodrick said she will not be returning to the house.
"I still feel terrible. You don't even know what's going on in my heart and my mind," Bodrick said. "But I still gotta be strong here for my mom and all I'm looking for right now is justice."