By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER EAST SIDE — A teenage girl fought off a suspected serial sex fiend who tried to attack her at knife-point in a Lower East Side building, authorities said.
The same man is wanted for a similar attack on another teen girl in the neigborhood last year, police said.
Last Thursday, at around 10 p.m., the suspect, believed to be 17 to 25 years old, followed the 17 year-old victim into an elevator, cops said.
He can be seen on a video released by police gesturing at her to select a floor and then pulling a black hood over his head before the alleged attack.
At knifepoint, he then forced her into a stairwell where he tried to sexually assault her, police said.
But the girl fought off the attacker, who then fled, police said. She was not injured.
The alleged attacker first struck in Jan. 2010, following a 19-year-old girl into an elevator. He forced that victim into a stairwell, also at knife-point, and sexually assaulted her, police said.
In that attack, the suspect, described as heavy set and around 5-foot-10, wore a black North Face jacket, jeans and black boots.
The victim in that case was treated and released from an area hospital, police said.
