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Harlem Grandmother Lives in Fear After She Was Attacked in Her Own Home

By Gustavo Solis | September 12, 2014 8:39am
 The man who tried to rape a 59-year-old woman in her East Harlem has not been arrested.
Harlem Grandmother Woke to Find a Stranger in Her Bedroom
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EAST HARLEM — Zoila Jara lives in fear.

Nearly two weeks ago, the 59-year-old grandmother woke in her dark Harlem bedroom to find a stranger standing over her bed and pulling off her pajamas before trying to sexually assault her.

The man still hasn't been arrested. Jara shared her terrifying story with DNAinfo New York, hoping the media attention will help find him.

“I live in fear that I will see him walking in the street,” Jara — who has been staying with her daughter since — said in Spanish. She gave DNAinfo permission to identify her in the hope that speaking out will help police find the man.

“I always walk somewhere with a friend, even during the day.”

Jara had fallen asleep inside her East 106th Street apartment while watching TV news on Labor Day. She had been trying to stay awake, waiting for a phone call from her son in the Air Force who is stationed in Alaska.

She fell asleep sometime around 10 p.m. on Sept. 1 and woke up after feeling a sharp tug on her ankle soon after midnight.

“I saw him standing over the bed,” she said. “He started to pull on my shorts. I leaned back against the wall and screamed, ‘no, no, no.'”

Her attacker, described by police as a short heavy-set man with short black hair, put his finger over his lips signaling her to be quiet.

But Jara was so frightened, she said, that she couldn’t stop screaming, even if she had wanted to.

The man ran into her living room, opened an unlocked window and headed up the fire escape onto the roof, which connects to three other buildings.

"The window lock does not work," she said. "I told the super to fix it four or five months ago but he has not done anything."

The building's super did not return a request for comment but a representative at the building's management company said they received a complaint about a busted window and faulty smoke alarm back in January.

“I don’t feel safe, I am drowning in nerves,” Jara said. “I get headaches when I think about it. Whenever I see his photo the fear comes back.”

The NYPD released a sketch of the suspect on Thursday.

Jara hasn't slept at home since the attack. She has not moved a single pillow on the bed, she said. Fingerprint powder from the NYPD's investigation is still spread out around the window.

She does not plan to return to the apartment until the management company fixes the locks and installs window screens, she said.

The morning after the incident she began to vomit uncontrollably. She spent three days in the hospital where she was treated for stress and dehydration, she said. She plans to start therapy in October.

She said she thanks God she didn't stop screaming. She fears it could have been worse.

Immediately after the attempted rape, Jara tried to call the police but her shaking hands prevented her from calling 911. She was able to call a friend, who contacted the police on her behalf. 

When police knocked on the front door Jara noticed that her attacker had locked the living room door, which separates the front door from her bedroom. 

"Who knows what he planned to do to me," she said. "I hope they arrest him and take him to jail so that he cannot hurt any more people. I don't know if he has done this before."

Anyone with information about the suspect should call Crime Stoppers at 1 800-577-8477.