Armed sex attacker on e-bike may have committed third offence, New York police say
Two women were sexually assaulted within an hour of each other on Saturday, while two months ago a third woman was attacked in a similar manner, police say
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One man is likely behind a string of sexual assaults carried out by a suspect riding an e-bike across the city, New York police said.
On Tuesday, the NYPD said they believe the man who sexually assaulted a 23-year-old woman and a 28-year-old woman within an hour of each other on Saturday night is likely the same person who attacked a woman nearly two months ago on the Manhattan Bridge at knifepoint.
“NYC: Please take a look at this updated image — he’s now wanted for three separate criminal sex acts in Manhattan,” the NYPD tweeted from its main account on Wednesday morning.
Over the weekend, investigators announced that two women had come forward with reports that a man riding an e-bike had attacked them while claiming to have a knife, which he threatened to harm them with if they didn’t listen to his demands.
At around 4am on Saturday morning near Central Park West and West 82nd Street, a 23-year-old woman told police she was walking home when she was attacked from behind by a man who told her he had a knife.
The man allegedly groped the young woman before fleeing the scene on an e-bike, she told police.
About an hour later, a similar incident played out when a 28-year-old woman was crossing the street near Avenue A and East Fourth Street. Investigators released surveillance footage of the second attack, which shows the suspect waiting at the crosswalk with the woman, perched on his bike, before slowly weaving along behind her, at one point appearing to nearly brush her side.
In the next clip released by the NYPD, it shows the 28-year-old walking beneath construction scaffolding on the street when the same man appears to have jumped off his bike and rush the woman from behind before tackling her to the ground.
Police say the suspect told the woman he had a knife and forced her to perform oral sex. The man never showed the victim his weapon but fled the scene like he did in the earlier attack on an e-bike.
Two months before the Saturday night attacks, a 26-year-old woman was attacked at knifepoint while crossing the Manhattan Bridge at 4.30am on 15 May, the NYPD said.
In that incident, like last weekend’s offences, police said the man stalked the woman on his bike before getting close enough to jump off his bike and attack her. Police said the suspect pulled out a knife on the woman and then proceeded to force her to perform a sex act.
Police are asking anyone with information about the incidents or the suspect seen in the surveillance footage to contact the NYPD or send an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers.