Police Identify Suspect In Brutal Queens Sex Assault
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD on Saturday identified a man they're looking for in connection to the brutal sexual assault of a woman earlier this week in Queens.
Police are looking for 21-year-old Ronald Williams, the man captured on surveillance video on a bus sometime before the attack Monday morning.
Williams is known to frequent Queens and the Bronx, according to police.
Police said the 52-year-old victim was found unconscious with trauma to her face and body at the bottom of an outdoor stairwell in Kew Gardens Hills. Authorities said it happened shortly after she dropped off a child at a nearby school.
Investigators believe the assailant had been following the woman before dragging her to a building near 72nd Road and Kissena Boulevard, where she was sexually assaulted and beaten beyond recognition.
"I feel very, very, very angry about this," Jingyi Song told CBS2's Reena Roy. "When I heard about it, I almost fainted."
Song said she is a friend of the victim, who she described as a loving mother of two who's lived in the area for more than a decade.
"She's very nice, she's always smiling, she's always willing to help," said Song. "She has two kids, very nice kids, very, very intelligent."
More: $10,000 Reward Offered As Search Continues For Person Of Interest In Queens Attack
Police said the victim has not yet been able to speak with police but has been able to breathe on her own.
Authorities said the woman did not live in the building where she was attacked, but somewhere nearby.
"I feel so sad about the lady and I'm scared because I work in the morning, 5:30 in the morning, every day, so I'm scared," resident Gladys Pereya said. "Nobody deserve what he did to the lady."
"I worry because my daughter's mother sometimes is around this area here, and I told her be careful at night because you never know who can follow you. There's a lot of bad people out on the street, especially this area," said resident Edgar Diaz.
"I hope they catch him soon. I mean, everybody in the neighborhood is kind of worried, kind of nervous," resident Henry Yee said.
If you see Williams or have information regarding his whereabouts, you're 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.
