A homeless man who was allegedly caught on video sexually abusing an NYU student in a random attack on Monday was cuffed Tuesday for purportedly breaking into a Greenwich Village apartment building.
Police sources allege that 45-year-old James Rizzo went on a rampage in the area for over 48 hours. On Dec. 1, he allegedly molested 20-year-old Amelia Lewis as she walked to school in an attack that was caught on camera and quickly went viral on social media.
Police say Rizzo has a long history of similar forcible touching assaults of women, including more than 10 prior arrests.
Rizzo allegedly ran up to Lewis from behind and slapped her buttocks before striking her across the head, sending her tumbling to the sidewalk. Other pedestrians froze and stood in shock for several moments before coming to her aid.
“I just crossed the street, and I’m walking down the right side of Broadway, and then you can see that he literally followed me across the street,” Lewis said in a social media post. “I just really want to emphasize how not okay this is. I am a student at NYU, I should not be scared to be walking down the street to go to my 9:30 a.m. class.”
At around 1 p.m. on Dec. 2, cops were called to the top floor of an apartment building near Washington Square Park, where Rizzo was caught burglarizing an empty apartment; he was subsequently recognized for committing the assault on Lewis the day earlier.
Through an investigation, police learned, Rizzo had been linked to at least three other burglaries in the same building, some of which occurred while people were sleeping.
Rizzo was questioned at the 6th Precinct before being taken out in handcuffs on Tuesday night in order to be transferred to Central Booking. He was peppered with questions by reporters about the alleged attack, but refused to answer.
In this incident, he was charged with persistent sexual abuse, forcible touching, and assault. He was also charged with several counts of burglary.
“I’m honestly still in shock, but I’m more enraged that things like this are able to happen in this city, and we really need to do something about it, because this is unacceptable,” Lewis added in her emotional video.
