By Leslie Albrecht and Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Staff
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS — Police are looking for a man who was spotted leaving the area shortly after a 19-year-old woman was attacked and robbed in Riverside Park early Monday morning.
The man was described as a stocky black man in his mid 40s, six feet two inches tall, wearing a bright blue long sleeve T-shirt.
He is not a suspect, police said, but authorities want to talk to him.
"He was seen leaving the area," a police source said. "We don't know if he's involved. We just want to talk to him. We're not sure what his status is."
The woman was attacked about 6 a.m. Monday as she was jogging in the park at West 120th Street, near the park's tennis courts. The attacker grabbed her and pushed her into a wall, slamming her head so hard she lost consciousness, according to the NYPD.
The woman is being treated at St. Luke's Hospital for bleeding on the brain, a fractured cheekbone and lacerations on her head, face and neck, police said.
The woman, who was an "affiliate" of Columbia University, according to the Columbia Spectator, was found unconscious on a park bench by a passerby who called 911.
The victim's iPod was stolen during the attack.
Police posted a sketch of the wanted man at the Riverside Park tennis courts Wednesday morning.
Tennis player Joan Schroeder, 57, of W. 111th Street and Riverside Drive, said she was "shocked" by the attack.
"I've always lived in this neighborhood," Schroeder said. "You start to feel safe, and then something like this happens. It's just horrible."
Schroeder, who visits the park daily to play tennis, said she considers the area relatively safe. She said a female jogger was attacked three or four years ago on Memorial Day. Other than that, the only crime she could recall was an occasional flasher in the woods behind the tennis courts, Schroeder said.
Schroeder said the heavily wooded bird sanctuary behind the tennis courts sometimes makes her uncomfortable, because it's a hangout for homeless people.
The 10-court tennis complex is tucked at the end of a running path near W. 120th Street and Riverside Drive. The gates to the courts open between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., Schroeder said. A park employee usually arrives around 8 a.m. The courts close at dusk.
Barnard College Director of Public Safety Dianna Pennetti sent an e-mail to Barnard summer residents telling them about the incident and warning them to take safety precautions, the Spectator reported.
"In light of this and other incidents in the neighborhood, I urge you to take your personal safety into consideration at all times," Pennetti wrote. "In particular, when entering the park in the early morning, around dusk, and after dark, always go with a friend and be aware of your surroundings."
Anyone who may have been in the area or has any information regarding this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
Anyone who saw the man police are seeking should call Detective Signoretti at.
