MOTT HAVEN — When detectives arrived at the apartment Monday of a man they believe sexually assaulted an elderly woman over the weekend, the suspect locked the door and called 911, according to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
“When they went to his home he basically barricaded himself [in], he called 911 and said that there is somebody breaking into my apartment,” Kelly said Tuesday.
The suspect, Gerson Rodriguez, 33, eventually opened his door and was arrested, police said.
He was charged in Bronx criminal court with sodomy, attempted rape, burglary and other charges late Tuesday. His bail was set at $250,000 cash.
Rodriguez allegedly followed the 73-year-old woman on Saturday evening to her apartment near St. Mary’s Park, where he asked to use her bathroom, according to cops and a criminal complaint. When the woman said no, Rodriguez allegedly forced his way in.
Rodriguez then dragged the woman into her bedroom and sodomized her, according to the complaint. He eventually told her, "You scream too much," then fled the apartment, the complaint said.
Kelly said a neighbor’s tip led detectives to Rodriguez, who they believe worked at a dollar store near the woman’s apartment. He did not know the woman, cops added.
Rodriguez is due back in court on Aug. 30.
