Source: Man Who Allegedly Robbed, Raped Woman In Staten Island Office Under Arrest
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Authorities have arrested a man they said raped and robbed a 44-year-old woman inside an office building on Staten Island, a police source told CBS2.
The attack happened at a building on Forrest Avenue in Mariners Harbor Friday evening.
A police source told CBS2's Jessica Schneider that 28-year-old Maurice Scott was taken into custody on Monday night. He was being questioned at the local precinct station, the source said.
Earlier, people in the area were angry that the attack happened after they reported Scott for making threats shortly before the alleged rape.
The owner of a deli across the street said that he called police in the days before the rape, after the suspect threatened him.
"He said to me, 'I'm going to rob you,'" Monzer Alrubay said.
Alrubay said Scott had been loitering outside of the deli and threatening his workers.
"He's going to do something else to somebody else," he said.
Mohaid Shahbin works in the deli across the street where surveillance images show Scott just 30 minutes before the alleged attack.
"I think the last time I saw him he was normal. But that day, he come to me he was aggravated," said Shahbin.
Workers said the victim was a manager for WIS International, a firm that provides inventory counting services. Joseph Rivera works the overnight shift, and said the victim is his voice.
"I feel like that's disgusting," Rivera said.
He said the front door is often left open to accommodate workers that come in at all hours.
"It's very bad, and it's very scared. We are always here overnight," Kiyanduwe Gunewartena said.
According to police, Scott walked up to the victim's second floor office around 5:30 p.m., saying he was looking for a job.
Scott began filling out paperwork, then pushed the woman into a filing cabinet, threatened to shoot her, and forced her into a bathroom where he sexually assaulted her, police said. He then fled with her phone, jewelry and cash.
The victim was treated at Richmond University Medical Center.
"I'm absolutely amazed. I didn't think that for a minute that it could happen here," said Bruce Perciballi, who works security for a business inside the building where the attack happened.
Perciballi told CBS2's Hazel Sanchez most of the building clears out by 4 p.m., but the front door was likely propped open with a piece of wood.
Mark Garafano works on the same floor and knows the victim.
"Now I'm shocked, now I'm absolutely shocked," he said. "There's not that many people in this office building to begin with. So in there I think there's only two people working there I think; there's three of us that work over here. So leaving here at 4 it should have been locked up."
Police said Scott is a familiar face in the neighborhood with prior arrests for robbery, assault and public lewdness, Sanchez reported.
"It's extremely scary and I will be keeping my eyes open. If I see anything immediately report it and get this guy off the streets," Perciballi said before the source said the suspect was apprehended.
Workers in the area are now taking extra precautions.
"We made it a new policy that the door has to be closed at all times. unless the manager opens the door no one can come inside," Rivera said.