FLATIRON — A man was busted for groping women in two different office buildings on the same day, NYPD said.
Barry Hamadou, 20, followed a woman into an elevator and then into a bathroom at 60 Madison Ave. at about 11:40 a.m. Sept. 4, police said. He pushed her into a bathroom stall and tried to grab her breasts, police said.
The victim fended him off and he fled, according to a criminal complaint from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
A half-hour later, Hamadou followed a woman into an elevator a few blocks away at 18 W. 27th St., grabbed her butt and made offensive remarks, according to the complaint.
Hamadou was charged with attempted criminal sexual act and forcible touching.
Since the incident, 60 Madison Ave. has closed off its entrance on the Madison Avenue side, which is currently under construction, according to a security guard there who declined to give his name. It was not immediately clear if the closure was related to the groping. The building’s management company, Moinian Group, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The entrance at 18 W. 27th St. is usually kept open without a security guard before 5 p.m., when it is locked and only people with keys can get in, according to Hector Hernandez, who works for the building’s management company, Metropolitan Design Inc.
Hamadou, who was being held on Rikers Island as of Tuesday, is due back in court on Sept. 10. Information regarding his attorney was not immediately available.
He was previously arrested in May for trespassing, according to online court records.
Other recent crimes that occurred in the 13th Precinct include:
► A man choked another man and then snatched his cellphone at West 19th Street and Sixth Avenue last week, police said.
Christopher Jones, 29, wrapped his arm around the victim’s throat and squeezed at about 4:45 a.m. on Sept. 1, causing the victim to nearly pass out, police said.
Jones then took the man’s cellphone from his hand and fled, police said.
He was charged with robbery and strangulation, according to the criminal complaint. Information regarding his attorney was not immediately available.
