By Nicole Breskin and Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN — Local politicians and community members joined the NYPD Monday in the hunt for a suspect who forced his way into a woman's Chelsea apartment, possibly posing as a delivery man, to sexually assault her.
City Speaker Christine Quinn and other local leaders will meet with Sixth Precinct officers to post flyers around the neighborhood Monday night, as police search for leads in the attack that shook up the neighborhood.
"It's scary that the guy is still out there," resident Nancy Rodwicz said. "You have to be constantly on alert."
Police said the woman, 24, entered her apartment at Seventh Avenue and 14th Street at approximately 11:20 p.m. Friday, when a man who may have been dressed as a delivery man pushed his way in, forced her to the floor and sexually assaulted her.
When the woman screamed, the man fled, police said.
She apparently thought the man was there to deliver food to another apartment and so she let him in, the New York Post reported.
Police described the suspect as a 30- to 35-year-old Hispanic male between 5’5†and 5’7†with a slight mustache and beard with long brown hair in a ponytail. At the time of the attack he was wearing a white shirt and white pants, police said.
The incident left many locals worried scared of a repeat attack, following a spate of home invasion robberies that happened in Nov. 2009.
"You feel like you're safe because it's the Village," said Valerie Otto, who lives near the building where the incident took place. "But anything like this that happens like this where someone breaks into your home is terrifying."
Quinn sent an e-mail to neighbors on Monday morning asking them to remain vigilant.
“It is also critical that as a community we look out for one another," she wrote. “Should you hear screams or sounds of a struggle while you are at home, please call 911 and immediately report it.â€
Anyone with information about the incident or the suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
