NYPD: 2 suspects facing charges following series of attacks on women near Riverside Park
NEW YORK - Two suspects are in police custody Friday, accused in separate sexual assaults in a Manhattan park this week.
Police said there were at least three attacks in Riverside Park from Tuesday to Thursday.
"I mean, it's horrible. It's very scary," one Upper West Side resident said Thursday.
Police said the crimes started on Tuesday afternoon inside Riverside Park, near 79th Street. Another one was committed just hours later, near 89th Street. And, early Thursday morning, there was a third attack in Riverside Park, near 59th Street.
Each time, a woman was groped or tackled. One of the women had to scream loudly to stop her attacker from pulling down her shorts.
"Based on the similar crimes and the proximity of locations, we believe and treated these incidents as being committed by one perpetrator," NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said.
After combing through surveillance video from the area, police tied two suspects to the crimes, and arrested them both.
Officials said 21-year-old Jhonathan Cortes-Lopez attacked two women Tuesday, near 79th and 89th Streets. They say he also admitted to groping a woman last month.
Tatchiem Luc, 39, is accused in the attack early Thursday morning near 59th Street.
Each was charged with attempted rape and sexual abuse, among other charges.
The string of attacks sparked fear in many women who frequent Riverside Park. Despite the arrests, some of those fears remain.
"But for the first time in a long time, I'm making it a point to observe what everyone is doing around me, which is not something I'm accustomed to," one woman said.
None of the victims of these attacks were seriously injured.
NYPD investigators added that it is highly unusual to have three attempted rapes in one location in less than a week.
Police said neither suspect had any prior arrest history.
They both could face a judge Friday night.