CROWN HEIGHTS — Police are looking for a man who tried to sexually assault four women within four hours in the neighborhood last week by following them into buildings, an elevator, and their apartments before attacking, police said.
The suspect, previously connected to two attempted assaults reported to police in Crown Heights, is now wanted in four separate incidents in the area, the NYPD said Tuesday.
All four women fought off the suspect and were uninjured, police said.
According to the NYPD, the man first assaulted a 22-year-old woman at 11:45 p.m. on July 12, following her into the hallway outside her apartment near Nostrand Avenue and Pacific Street. There, he put his hand over her mouth, pressed her against a wall, touched her genitals and told her he wanted to have sex. The woman screamed and fought off the man, who fled the building on foot.
A little more than an hour later, the man targeted another woman inside a building at St. Marks and New York avenues, police said. At about 1 a.m. on July 13, the man followed a 29-year-old woman into her apartment and pushed her inside as she opened her door. He put his hands over her mouth and grabbed her, but she fought back and he fled the apartment, police said.
Police released the above surveillance footage of the suspect on Tuesday. (Courtesy of the NYPD)
An hour later, police say the man struck again, this time threatening to kill his victim with a knife. At 2 a.m., the suspect followed a 22-year-old woman to her apartment inside a building near Albany Avenue and Sterling Place and pushed her inside when she opened the door, police said. He then covered her mouth with his hand, dragged her to the floor, touched her genitals and told her he had a knife and would kill her if she wasn’t quiet.
The woman kneed the suspect in the groin, police said, and he fled the apartment.
The fourth attempted assault took place about 90 minutes later when at 3:36 a.m., the suspect followed a 32-year-old woman into an elevator inside a building at Pacific Street and Nostrand Avenue, police said.
As she left the elevator when it arrived at her floor, the man put his hand over her mouth and tried to drag her to the ground. The woman screamed, then punched and kicked the man, who let her go and fled the building, police said.
The NYPD had previously released surveillance images of the man wearing a baseball hat and a black T-shirt with white lettering spelling "F-ck you, you f-cking f-ck," and, in another image, wearing light colored pants and no shirt.
On Tuesday, the police department released a video of the suspect wearing the black T-shirt and baseball cap while walking down a sidewalk.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, (888) 57-PISTA (74782).
