Sex assault near City Hall
A 28-year-old woman was sexually assaulted across the street from City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan early Sunday, police said.
Police say the attack took place on Theater Alley, a small side street off Beekman St. near Park Row just before 5 a.m. on April 14. The woman’s attacker spoke to her while she was on the subway and offered to help her find an address. He then followed her from the Fulton St. A train station, grabbed her by the throat, pushed her down and pulled down her pants, according to police.
She screamed and nearby construction workers rushed over, chasing away the would-be rapist.
The victim was taken to Beth Israel Hospital and is reportedly in stable condition. A police spokesperson could not confirm if she was injured during the attack.
Police are seeking a man described as Hispanic in his mid-20s, of average build who was last seen wearing a red American Eagle sweatshirt. The N.Y.P.D. released a surveillance photo of a man wanted for questioning, taken the same day as the attack, as he entered a subway turnstile.
A planned meeting with Councilmember Margaret Chin and elected officials to “seek the public’s assistance in apprehending a suspect wanted in connection” with the incident was canceled due to the events in Boston on April 15.
Florist arrested
An employee of Eden Flowers was arrested by a First Precinct detective after police say he admitted to faking a robbery of his own store.
Kyung Im, 52, allegedly confessed that he stole $1,540 from his FiDi workplace at 56 Fulton St. and falsified a robbery incident at 4 a.m. on April 2. He said he taped his own mouth and wrists and removed a DVR box during the supposed robbery, and in the process managed to remove 77 $20 bills from the store’s cash register and wooden money box.
The money was recovered by the arresting officer and a swab of the tape was taken for evidence.
Motorcycle stolen
A man reported to police that his girlfriend’s motorcycle was stolen on his watch while spending time in Battery Park City.
The man, 48, said he parked his 28-year-old girlfriend’s motorbike at the southwest corner of South End Ave. and Albany St. at about 8:30 a.m. on Wed., April 10 while she was running errands.
When he went out at about 12:30 p.m. that day, it was still there. But by the time he returned at 3 p.m., it was missing. He told police that he went into the building at the end of the block and saw surveillance video that showed someone stealing the bike. The motorcycle was a black, 2012 Suzuki GSXR with N.Y. plates, worth $15,469.
Bag thefts
Two more Downtown boutiques were hit in the past week by shoplifters who grabbed pricey purses and dashed.
An employee of Chloe, a brand new Soho boutique at 93 Greene St., reported to police that she saw a man in a light blue baseball cap walk into the store at about noon on Tues., April 9, grab a $2,995 beige handbag from a display and leave. Video footage was not available.
Another theft occurred the same day, also carried out by a young man in a light blue ballcap, this time at Mulberry on 134 Spring St. in Soho, police reported. An employee said that while he was at work on April 9, he noticed that two purses were missing from a display in the front of the store. He went to check surveillance video and saw a man enter the store, take the bags and flee in an unknown direction at 5:06 p.m. that day. The thief had bagged a small Delilah satchel worth $1,000 and a light pink purse valued at $1,350. He was described as a 25-year-old black male, about 5’5” and 130 pounds, wearing a light blue baseball cap and a paint-splattered denim jacket.
Phone getaway to Brooklyn
Two victims who lost their phones over the weekend were unable to recover them, but both were able to trace their devices to a single block near Prospect Park.
On Sat., April 13 at 6 a.m., a 24-year-old woman reported to police that her phone had been stolen between 3 and 3:30 a.m. that night while she was at W.i.P., a Soho bar and nightclub at 34 Vandam St. She said that the $500 Apple iPhone 5 was in her purse, which she had been holding the entire time she was at the club. She had not felt anyone remove her cell from it. When she discovered the theft, she reportedly was able to track the phone to Ocean Avenue and St. Pauls Court in Brooklyn.
Another woman was able to trace her stolen iPhone to within a block of the first iPhone theft.
The 24-year-old told police that she was at SOBs, a bar at 204 Varick St., on Sun., April 14. At about 2:50 p.m., while she was in the bar, someone removed her iPhone 4 from the purse which she had slung over her shoulder.
The victim realized the theft and at 4:30 a.m. used the “Find My Phone” app to trace it to the corner of Ocean Avenue and Church Avenue, one street away from St. Pauls Court. Unfortunately, by the time police took her statement, the phone had been switched off and she was unable to track it.
Concealer needed
Beauty is pain, and in some cases, a sentence. At least, it was for two women apprehended for trying to walk out of a store with over $1,000 each in makeup — for a second time.
Maximillia Cordero, 29, and Natalie Rivera, 28 were arrested on Fri., April 12 at Sephora, a Soho beauty supply shop. Police say the store, at 555 Broadway, had already issued one of them a trespass notice. Cordero had $1,002 in merchandise in her possession when she was arrested and Rivera had $1,016 in items, according to police. The pair was already wanted by authorities who accuse them of stealing $298 worth of bracelets and $660 worth of accessories from the store C Wonder, located at 72 Spring St. in the Fifth Precinct.
–Kaitlyn Meade
