Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Subway Groper in Santa Hat Arrested for Fondling Women at Beach, NYPD Says

By Maya Rajamani | September 11, 2017 3:04pm
 David Cruz-Rodriguez was previously arrested for groping two women in a Flatiron subway station, police said.
David Cruz-Rodriguez was previously arrested for groping two women in a Flatiron subway station, police said.
View Full Caption
NYPD

NEW YORK CITY — A man busted for groping two women in a Flatiron subway station earlier this year while wearing a Santa hat was arrested for fondling three more victims on the Brighton Beach Boardwalk Sunday, the NYPD said.

David Cruz-Rodriguez, 33, groped the first woman of an unknown age around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday on the boardwalk near Brighton 2nd Street, police said.

The woman had been sunbathing and sleeping on the sand near the boardwalk at the time, the New York Post reported.

Ten minutes later, Cruz-Rodriguez groped a second woman, whose age was also unknown, near the same location, the NYPD said.

Around 10:50 a.m., he grabbed a 59-year-old woman’s breast and was arrested by a Parks Enforcement officer soon after, police said.

Cruz-Rodriguez, who is homeless, was charged with three counts of forcible touching and three counts of resisting arrest, the NYPD said.

At the end of February, Cruz-Rodriguez groped two women while wearing a Santa hat inside the 23rd Street R/W subway station in Manhattan.

Police at the time said he had been arrested 20 times in the past, including for drug possession, burglary and assault.

Cruz-Rodriguez hadn’t yet been arraigned for the most recent incidents as of midday Monday, and his attorney's information wasn’t immediately available.