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Search Is On For Man Who Tried To Rape Woman In Stuyvesant Town Elevator

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The hunt is on for a man who police said tried to rape a woman inside a Stuyvesant Town elevator Friday morning.

Police said the victim's cries for help at around 4 a.m. sent the suspect down a tree as an escape route, CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco reported.

Surveillance video shows the suspect following the 20-year-old woman into the building's lobby and into the elevator.

While in the elevator, as the doors are closing, the suspect appears to size up and appraise the woman before dropping his bag and stepping closer to her.

The video then cuts to the man running back out through the lobby, having left his bag behind.

The building sits on top of two garage levels, so when he ran out, the suspect apparently hopped over a side wall and climbed down a tree to make his escape.

The commotion happened right outside Billy Stavropoulos' apartment.

"In the middle of my sleep I hear, 'Stop! You're hurting me. Stop you're hurting me. Stop, stop. And then by the time I threw some clothes on, I looked through my peep hole and didn't see anybody. But as soon as I opened the door, I heard the adjacent door of the staircase. I just missed the guy by a few seconds," he said.

The multiple building community has its own private security team, and by Friday night an email from the tenants association was sent out alerting residents of the assault, but it offered little comfort to residents.

"He actually got away, then jumped down a tree and ran away and no one noticed. So my question is, what is security doing?" one resident said.

In the surveillance video, the suspect is wearing a dark hoodie, a dark T-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers and carrying a white plastic bag, perhaps filled with groceries. Police said he is Hispanic.

Police said they are still investigating. No arrests have been made.

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