Same Man Suspected In East Village Groping Incident, Rape Attempt
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police believe the same suspect is behind an attempted rape and a groping incident that occurred 12 days apart in the East Village.
The first incident happened around 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16. A 19-year-old woman was walking into the elevator in the lobby of an apartment building on the FDR Drive when the suspect got in behind her, grabbed her buttocks and breasts, and tried forcibly to kiss her, police said.
A struggle ensued, and the victim ran out of the elevator and the building, but the suspect grabbed her buttocks again before fleeing, police said.
The second incident happened just after 6 a.m. this past Sunday at a building on East 6th Street.
Police said the suspect followed a 22-year-old woman into the building and tried to rape her in the stairwell. The woman was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
One resident who lives in a public housing unit nearby said she thinks the problem is that the doors are always broken and the locks don't hold, 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria reported.
"It's so dangerous, you don't know who is lurking in the hallways," she said.
Police described the suspect as a 25-year-old dark-skinned male, weighing about 180 pounds with short hair. He was wearing a dark baseball cap, black bubble jacket, blue jeans and black sneakers.
He was seen wearing a Yankees hat in the earlier forcible touching incident.
Anyone with information was asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, log onto the Crime Stoppers website, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIP577.
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