Video: Woman Attacked in Building Stairwell During an Attempted East New York Rape: NYPD

EAST NEW YORK, BROOKLYN — A 26-year-old woman was sexually assaulted by a man who tried to rape her in the stairwell of an East New York apartment building early Saturday morning, the NYPD said.

It was reported to police that the attack occurred at 1308 Loring Avenue in Brooklyn at 6:30 a.m. Saturday Sept. 3, according to the NYPD.

Police are seeking your help to locate the suspect in the following video. He was still at large Tuesday night.

The suspect allowed the the 26-year-old female victim to pass him in the third floor stairwell of the apartment building then turned grabbed her from behind and placed his hand over her mouth. The unidentified male suspect "forced the victim to the ground, sexually assaulted her and attempted to rape her," police said. The attacker then "removed $100 from the victim's purse and fled on foot down the stairwell." police said.

The NYPD is seeking the suspect pictured above, who is believed to be a black man in his late 20's, 5-foot-ten and about 150 pounds with tattoos on his arms. He was wearing "a black baseball cap, a blue/purple t-shirt, black pants and black sneakers with white soles,"police said.

The 75th precinct, which patrols East New York, has seen a 17 percent year-to-date increase in reported rape, according to NYPD crime statistics.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website atWWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
All calls are strictly confidential.

Lead image and suspect video courtesy of the NYPD