Crown Heights Residents On Edge As Search Continues For Sex Assault Suspect
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Brooklyn community is on edge as police search for a suspect wanted for four attempted rapes in four hours.
Police say the suspect sexually assaulted four women between late last Wednesday and early Thursday. The suspect is still on the loose.
A 22-year-old woman said the man put his hand over her mouth, pushed her against a hallway wall and began touching her. She screamed and the man let her go.
About an hour later police say the same man followed a 29-year-old woman to her apartment. She opened the door and he pushed her inside. Police say he put one hand over her mouth and the other around her waist. The woman fought back and he ran away.
Flyers with photos of the suspect are now covering doors all over the neighborhood.
"This is my neighborhood. Whenever I come home I feel secure but now I don't feel secure anymore," said Crown Heights resident Ting Cai.
"A lot of my godchildren live around here you know I have kids that go to the school over here so that's very scary," said Williamsburg resident Yolanda Julien.
"That is very disgusting. I hope he gets caught. You gotta be brave to do something like that around here," Crown Heights resident Reginald Law said. "I have a lot of sisters in my family and I have kids and I wouldn't want this to happen to any female ever."
"You can't hide so you just have to be more aware and really really keep looking back that's the most you can do," one resident said.
"If you are a resident here you need to keep an eye out for other people in the neighborhood to make sure that they're safety is protected as well as your own," Crown Heights resident Jayson Taylor said.
In all four encounters, the victims managed to fight the man off.
Police told CBS2 one of the victims said she smelled something chemical on her attacker's hand while he was covering her mouth. Police said it was mace.
Despite the attacks, NYPD stats show the number of reported rapes is down ten percent year to date in the Crown Heights area.
