Manhunt For Suspect In 4 Queens Sex Assaults Intensifies
NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- The manhunt for the suspect in a string of at least four sexual assaults in Queens shifted into high gear Sunday.
Police released a very clear picture of the man they say is a sexual predator.
The suspect's face was captured clearly by surveillance video as he left the Main Street-Roosevelt Avenue subway station in Flushing. Police said the video was taken just before a 24-year-old girl was attacked inside a nearby apartment building on Colden Street.
That victim was Asian, as were the three other female victims. The attacks, dating back to September, have left women in the area on edge.
"I'm always looking around anyway, not just because of this incident," Flushing resident Shirley Merritt said.
"Of course I worry about it," another resident said.
The Main Street-Roosevelt station is the closest subway station to three of the attacks.
Police say the suspect appears to go after Asian women walking in residential areas, sneaking up behind them. He often attacks at night, but right in the open, as he did to a young woman ouside a building on Bowne Street.
He also sexually assaulted a 27-year-old woman on Sanford Avenue.
Some women said they were so scared they didn't want their faces to be shown on camera.
"[I'm] terrified. I usually jog around this area; I actually walked alone yesterday," one resident said.
Neighbor Carlos Cajigas was also trying to help out, taking a picture of the suspect's sketch with his cell phone.
"I've been showing everyone, neighbors, just to remember the picture and remember the face," Cajigas said.
Now, though, there's a clear picture of the suspect, and police said they are hoping someone will recognize the man's face before there's another attack.
Police are warning women in the neighborhood that they should never walk alone at night, and to always check behind them and be constantly aware of their surroundings.
