$10,000 Reward Offered As Search Continues For Person Of Interest In Queens Attack
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A $10,000 reward is being offered for information as police search for a person of interest in connection with a brutal attack on a woman in Queens.
Surveillance video released by police shows a man walking down the sidewalk as he looks around. Police say he is a person of interest in the beating and sexual assault of a woman in Kew Gardens Hills Monday morning.
Police said the 52-year-old woman was found at the bottom of an outdoor stairwell unconscious with trauma to her face and body. Authorities said it happened shortly after she dropped off a child at a nearby school.
"I'm very upset about it," said resident Barry Rosenbloom. "It is a horrible thing. I feel terrible and it's very scary."
Investigators believe a man had been following the victim and then dragged her to a building near 72nd Road and Kissena Boulevard where she was attacked so badly, she's almost unrecognizable.
As of Wednesday morning, police say the victim is improving but she's still not alert enough to give police a description of the suspect.
"I don't understand how that happened in that time of day and nobody saw something because it's a pretty busy area there's businesses," Rosenbloom said.
Authorities say the woman did not live in the building where she was attacked, but somewhere nearby.
So far, investigators say the attack appears to be random.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), visit nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
