Four teens in custody for rape of Brooklyn woman, NYPD says

Four teenagers accused of gang-raping an 18-year-old Brooklyn woman Thursday, were in police custody Sunday night and a fifth suspect remained on the loose, the NYPD said.

NYPD officials said two of suspects turned themselves in Sunday at the NYPD’s 73rd Precinct in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brownsville. The other two suspects were later arrested by police.

The names of the suspects, a 14-year-old, two 15-year-olds, and a 17-year-old, were not released by the NYPD. Their capture comes a day after detectives released security footage, allegedly of the five suspects, in hopes of receiving tips that could lead to their arrest. Charges are still pending, NYPD officials said.

Police said the woman was raped by five men just after 9 p.m. Thursday in the Osborn Playground in Brownsville. She was walking with her father when one of the suspects pointed a gun at her father and ordered him to leave, police said.

The father returned with two police officers, but not before each of the five raped the woman, police said. The suspects left before police arrived, officials said. The woman was taken to Kings County Hospital Center, where she was treated for injuries from the attack and released.

On Sunday, NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis, responded to criticism from community leaders that police officials waited two days to notify the public of the attack, saying there was “no delay in responding to the rape in the 73 Precinct.”

In an emailed statement to reporters, Davis said detectives “began contacting local community leaders preliminarily on Friday” and on Saturday after an “extensive search,” detectives located surveillance footage of the men from a local bodega, which they released hours later to media.