JAMAICA — Police arrested three men — including one with an extensive rap sheet — for sexually assaulting a woman at gunpoint after she left church Tuesday night, police said.
The 50-year-old victim had just left the Celestial Church of Christ on Liberty Avenue and turned onto 150th Street when she was approached by two men about a block away near Beaver Road just after 11 p.m., police and members of the church said.
They forced her to take her clothes off after one of the suspects threatened her with a gun before stealing her money, debit card and cellphone, according to the NYPD.
Two more men also arrived, and three of the four suspects sexually assaulted her before fleeing, police said.
The woman then went back toward the church, where members heard her calling for the pastor.
"Some guys attacked me," church member Sakriu Ayandeji, 37, said the victim told him. "She just started shaking."
The woman had just left the Celestial Church of Christ on Liberty Avenue before she was assaulted on 150th Street and Beaver Road. (DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg)
Ayandeji said they immediately called the police and tried to comfort her.
"I pray they catch them. I just pray. You can't do something like that and walk away," Ayandeji said. "She's a child of God."
Brandon Walker, 20, Julisses Ginel, 19, and a 17-year-old were charged Thursday with sex abuse, performing a criminal sex act, robbery and criminal use of a firearm, NYPD officials said. Walker and Williams were also charged with menacing.
Walker has 13 prior arrests, including for public lewdness, assault, fraud and turnstile jumping, police said. Ginel had previously been arrested for selling marijuana, while the 17-year-old had no prior arrests, the NYPD said.
Police are still investigating.
Vince Mohan, 28, who works at his family business near the intersection of 150th Street and Beaver Road, said the area has gotten safer but needs more street lights.
"After hearing what happened, we're thinking of putting a light here," Mohan said. "That corner in the nighttime is dark."
The woman's pastor told news outlets that the suspects "should be prepared that God is going to lay a hand on them.
"Nobody does evil and goes scot-free, especially when you lay your hand on a woman of Christ," Pastor Kehinde Oyegunde reportedly said.
If you have information on this attack, please call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish.
