Watch CBS News

Woman Attacked In Brooklyn, Could Be The Work Of A Serial Groper

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- Police fear that a serial groper may be targeting women in Brooklyn. A woman was groped on Wednesday on 16th street in Park Slope, across the street from where another woman was groped fourteen months ago.

The latest attack occurred around 5:30 in the morning when a twenty-two year old woman was returning home from her job at a Manhattan night club.

The woman told friends that she got off of the subway at the 4th and 9th street F-train station. As the woman approached 16th street she noticed that somebody was following her.

The woman thought that she had ditched the man but he jumped at her and put his hands under her skirt.

Neighbors told CBS 2's Dave Carlin that they could hear the young woman's screams.

"I jumped out and yelled out the window and they were separating," said Don Harrington.

Harrington ran downstairs as the suspect ran away, but he didn't make it far; another neighbor ran the man down and caught him near the corner of Prospect Ave and 3rd Ave.

Police arrived on the scene, where witnesses told CBS 2, he was detained for fifteen-minutes.

"They let him go," said Harrington.

Police returned to the neighborhood later on Wednesday to question neighbors and check security cameras.

In March of 2011 a sex assault was caught on a neighborhood surveillance camera. The neighborhood has seen twenty similar crimes in the past two years.

How could one neighborhood be so vulnerable to this type of attack? Let us know in our comments section below...

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.