Jersey City Police Seek Bike-Riding Rapist After Alleyway Attack
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBS 2) -- Police in Jersey City are on the lookout for a bike-riding rapist after a woman was attacked early Thursday morning.
Women in the neighborhood are on alert after getting a warning describing how a woman was attacked in a dark alleyway that is also used as a side entrance for tenants into an apartment building.
Sources told CBS 2's Christine Sloan that the woman was raped and robbed by a man who took off on a bike.
"What goes through my mind? I don't feel safe, don't really feel safe," resident Rhodesia Conyers said. "I come out here early in the morning – thank God nothing has happened to me."
Police say the woman was put in a chokehold and dragged into the alleyway, where she was brutally raped and beaten.
"I think this guy is really like a real bad monster," Conyers said. "He's really like a boogie man, someone you don't want to see, and definitely someone you've got to be protected from."
While the prosecutor's office has remained tight-lipped about the attack, two cameras in the alleyway on Harrison Avenue may help them in their investigation. An employee placed a third camera in the enclosed area of the alley after the attack and said he was replacing the gate.
Reports indicate that even though the victim tried to scream, no one could hear her – possibly because of the chokehold.
"It's sad, it's ridiculous," resident Rolanda Terry said. "You can't feel safe in your own neighborhood."
Women in the neighborhood said what scares them most is that no one has given them information or told them what the suspect looks like.
The building is also warning residents not to let strangers inside, and to immediately call 911 if they see anything suspicious.
When CBS 2 reached out to police, they said while they are helping with the investigation, it's the prosecutor's case and they can't release information.
