Park Slope On Edge After Early-Morning Sex Attack On Woman Headed To Work
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Park Slope, Brooklyn residents are on edge after a woman was recently sexually assaulted while on her way to work.
As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, police said the woman was putting on makeup in her car before an early-morning shift when she was attacked on Friday of last week.
Alex Brown just moved to the neighborhood where the attack happened, and was shocked to hear about the attack right across the street from her home.
"I didn't know it happened," Brown said. "It's awful."
Police said around 5:30 a.m. this past Friday, a 24-year-old New Jersey woman was exiting her parked car on 14th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues in Brooklyn. She was on her way to work at the Union Market on Seventh Avenue when a man grabbed her from behind and slid his hand back to her neck, police sources said.
Police said the man had his pants down and was performing lewd acts.
The victim was able to get away from her attacker, get back in her car and drive up here to the corner, where she called a co-worker who ran out of the store one block away to help her.
The suspect got away. Since the attack, some residents in the neighborhood have been concerned for themselves and their families – knowing the attacker is still on the loose.
"That's terrible -- that's what I was just saying to you, you know," said Ozzie Phothyvongsa of Park Slope. "It's bad."
"I leave for work at 6 o'clock in the morning, and I've never, ever thought twice about walking to my car at that hour," said Jen Maloney of Park Slope.
Union Market employees said their coworker is doing as best as can be expected. What police said happened to her is a reminder to everyone always to be alert.
"My mom is a rape crisis therapist, so it's always in the back of my mind like getting in my car which, is like a daily, everyday thing, you know, that you think about and which we shouldn't have to think about," Brown said.
"Be a little more cautious in the future," Maloney added.
The suspect was described as a black male about 30 years old weighing 190 pounds. He had a thin build and was last seen wearing a black hooded sweat shirt, sources said.
The suspect was last seen by a coworker of the victim's, running on the south side of 14th Street toward Sixth Avenue, sources said. The search for the suspect continued late Thursday.
