CBS2 Exclusive: Woman Speaks Out After Man Stalks Her On Subway, Takes Upskirt Photos
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police were searching Wednesday for a man who allegedly followed a woman and her child to the train, took inappropriate photos of the woman, and then sexually harassed her while on the subway.
CBS2's Valerie Castro spoke to the victim exclusively Wednesday night.
"This guy is just a creep," said the woman, who did not want to be identified, "and I'm probably not the only woman he's done it to."
The victim said she had no idea who the man was, and she had never seen him before last week.
"I noticed him following me after I got off the train," she said.
On Monday, July 11, the suspect followed the 33-year-old woman onto the subway at 169th Street in Jamaica Hills, Queens. She was boarding a train headed toward Prospect Park in Brooklyn.
The mother got off the train at the Fort Hamilton stop near Prospect Park and dropped her daughter off at summer camp. She then headed to the One Stop Market deli on Caton Avenue.
"I noticed him, after I went in to the store, I noticed he went in to the store too," she said. "I did have a weird feeling about it."
The suspect was following the woman from behind. In the deli, he used his cell phone to take photos up her skirt as she was leaning over a refrigerated case, police said.
Surveillance video shows the man leaning down next to the woman before he began taking the upskirt photos.
When the woman left the store, she said the stranger tried to strike up a conversation.
"I don't know this guy at all. He only asked me if I was single or married," she said. "I told him I'm married with children."
The woman returned to the F Train, headed back to Queens, and fell asleep. When she awoke, she saw the familiar face.
"I noticed him sitting across from me when I woke up to get off at my stop," she said. "He slapped me on my butt as I was exiting the train."
The woman got off back at 169th Street in Queens, while the man stayed on the train afterward, police said.
The woman said she is now scared and nervous to travel on the train until the man is caught.
"I'm angry and upset, and now I look behind me and beside me everywhere I go," she said. "Even when I'm on the train, I'm looking all over."
Others were also shocked by the stalking incident.
"It's just crazy. It's just ridiculous," Wisler Theodore told CBS2's Raegan Medgie. "This guy's a pervert."
"There are a lot of strange characters in New York," said June Quinones of Richmond Hill, Queens, "especially nowadays – you got a lot of people doing a lot of crazy stuff."
The woman said she has been advised to carry pepper spray to protect herself, and plans to do so.
The NYPD describes the suspect as approximately 28 years old, standing 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing around 170 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black baseball hat, black sneakers a black jacket and shorts.
Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS or to log on their website atwww.NYPDCrimeStoppers.com. Tips can remain anonymous.
