MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — The teen pizza-delivery boy accused of raping a woman in her Upper West Side home was arrested just a month before the attack for swiping a wallet out of another woman's apartment, officials said.
On Wednesday, 16-year-old Cesar Lucas was indicted on second-degree burglary charges for snatching the wallet, which included two credit cards. He pleaded not guilty.
Lucas, who worked as a delivery boy for New York Sal's Pizza on 10th Avenue, was caught with the stolen goods Aug. 21 when cops spotted him jumping a subway turnstile, officials said.
According to court documents, he told cops after the arrest, "I went into an an apartment, I saw the purse and removed the wallet from the purse."
The Bronx teen was arrested and charged a month later with raping a 35-year-old woman in her West 61st Street apartment Sept. 28 as she slept next to her 7-year-old daughter.
Sources said Lucas had been delivering pizza to a neighbor's apartment, then went inside and sexually assaulted the victim.
Lucas fled after the woman fought him off. According to court documents, he told cops that he went into the woman's apartment because he was "feeling horny," and he "took advantage of her."
The alleged victim has since filed a civil suit related to the alleged attack that names her apartment building’s management, its co-op board, the doorman working the night of the alleged rape and the suspect's employer, Sal’s Pizzeria. Lucas's rape case is expected to be consolidated with his burglary charge. His indictment in the rape case is slated to be unsealed Oct. 30.
