Watch CBS News

Three Men In Custody In Sexual Assault Of Queens Parishioner

NEW YORK (CBSNewyork) -- Three of the four men accused of sexually assaulting a woman after she left a prayer service in Queens are in police custody.

They are being questioned at the 112th precinct, where police are conducting line-ups to identify the suspects, CBS2's Jessica Moore reported.

The 50-year-old woman had just left the Celestial Church of Christ in Jamaica around 10:40 p.m. Tuesday when she was attacked, police said.

Newly obtained surveillance video shows her walking along 150th Street as four men slowly pass by across the street.

Minutes later, the men huddle together and then one takes off running toward her, with the other three close behind.

Police said the men stole her cellphone and debit card, then forced her to undress at gunpoint before they each sexually assaulted her.

Police sources told CBS2 the suspects used two fake guns in the attack.

The terrified woman ran back to the church, where the pastor called 911.

"She was crying," Pastor Kehinde Oyetunde said.

"She was scared, she was crying. She was just crying like a baby, we couldn't control her," Oyetunde's wife, Bose, said.

One longtime Jamaica resident told Moore he was outraged by the violence in his neighborhood.

"Those little punks. I don't like what they did," he said. "That was somebody's mother, that was somebody's sister, somebody's grandmother. You don't do those things around this neighborhood here."

"You don't do that to a young lady," he added.

Less than 48 hours after the attack, three men are in custody as police search for the fourth suspect.

"I know by God's grace they will get them," Oyetunde said.

Police believe the suspects chose their victim at random.

No charges had been issued as of 11 p.m.

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.