MANHATTAN — An ex-con with a history of sex assault was arrested again Wednesday afternoon to face charges for dragging a jogger into a wooded area of Central Park and trying to rape her three days earlier, law enforcement sources said.
Forest Richardson, who was charged with raping a woman he was holding captive in 2014, grabbed the 28-year-old woman from behind in a bear hug about 9:30 p.m. Monday night and dragged her from East Drive into the woods, NYPD officials said.
Richardson, of Melrose, pulled off some of her clothes and tried to rape her, but grabbed her phone instead and fled without completing the act, police said.
She was treated and released from an area hospital, police said.
Investigators tracked her missing phone to The Bronx and arrested Richardson on Wednesday afternoon, an NYPD spokesman said Thursday.
He was charged with attempted rape, robbery, sex abuse, assault and criminal possession of stolen property, officials said.
He hadn't been arraigned on the most recent attack as of Thursday morning, court records show.
He's been arrested about 30 times on charges including assault, grand larceny and criminal contempt, the spokesman said.
Many of those arrest records are sealed, however, he said.
But on Dec. 16, 2014, he held a woman captive in his Arverne home until New Year's Eve, prosecutors said.
In that time, he raped and beat her, prosecutors said.
Richardson pleaded guilty to third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to four months in jail, prosecutors said.
The suspect is currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation and is expected to be arraigned later, sources said.
