FLATIRON — Police have arrested a man accused of groping two women in a Flatiron subway station a day after releasing a photo of the man snapped by one of his victims, according to a police report.
Police from the city's Homeless Outreach Unit spotted David Cruz, 33, littering in Bryant Park at about 4 a.m. on Wednesday and recognized him as the man suspected of groping two women while wearing a Santa hat inside the 23rd Street R/W stop, according to the New York Daily News and a police report.
He was put into a lineup and one of the victims positively identified him, leading to his arrest later that day, police said.
Cruz, who is homeless, has 20 previous arrests for charges including drug possession, burglary and assault, a police spokesman said.
Cruz is accused of approaching a 32-year-old woman inside the 23rd Street station at 7 p.m. on Feb. 8 and grabbing her butt, according to a police report. About half an hour later he groped a woman on the stairs as she was exiting the station, police said.
Prosecutors charged Cruz with forcible touching and sexual abuse, and a judge ordered him held on $2,500 bail, records show.
