Man Arrested For Attacks At Midtown Subway Station, Police Say

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A man accused of sexually assaulting two women in separate instances at the same Midtown subway station is facing charges, police said.

Police arrested 28-year-old Lamel Atkinson in connection with attacks on women in the West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue subway station on July 4 and 12, an NYPD spokesperson said. Atkinson is facing charges such as attempted criminal sexual act, two counts of attempted robbery, forcible touching and harassment.

During both assaults, Atkinson allegedly grabbed victims while exposing himself and demanding sex acts, an NYPD spokesperson said.

The first attack occurred on the night of July 4 as two women were using the station's turnstiles, police said. The attacker dragged one of the women down by her purse and groped her, an NYPD spokesman said. The second woman helped fight the man off, causing him to flee from the subway station by screaming, police said.

Eight days later on around 11 a.m. on July 12 the same man grabbed a woman as she walked up the station's stairs toward the street, police said. He groped the woman, dragged her down by the hair, exposed himself and demanded a sex act, police said. When the woman yelled, the man ran away, an NYPD spokesperson said.