Police: 20-Year-Old Woman Raped In Woodside, Queens; Man Wanted For Questioning
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Police are searching for a man accused of raping a woman Friday night in Queens.
The 20-year-old victim had just gotten off a Q32 bus around 10:40 p.m. when the suspect followed her to 54th Street and Skillman Avenue in Woodside and asked her for directions to the 7 train.
Police said the man pushed the woman against a vehicle, threatened to kill her and then raped her.
The victim was taken to the hospital, where she was treated and released.
"Oh my god. I get off over there all the time late at night," Woodside resident and fellow bus rider Holly Hart told CBS2's Tara Jakeway. "I'm completely shocked and devastated actually."
The 30-year-old takes the same route regularly, as does her neighbor, Ada Terry.
"I'm in shock because Woodside's nice. It's scary because I take that bus once in a while," she said.
Before Terry hops on the Q32, she dropped off her laundry across the street at 55 Laundromat and Cleaners, where the incident was on everyone's minds Monday morning.
"This neighborhood is so peaceful and quiet, and all of a sudden, there's an incident like that," said Jasper Magbanua.
Magbanua said his 14-year-old niece sometimes walks the area alone at night. But now, he's putting his foot down.
"I'm going to tell her parents, my brother, to give her a curfew. At 10-o-clock or 9-o-clock you should be home," he said.
Others were thinking of the women in their lives.
"I've definitely got to let all my female friends around the neighborhood [know] that somebody out there is causing harm," Brian Orzo said.
"I'm actually on my way to the yoga studio that's up the street, so I'm just going to let all of them know now to be a little more aware," said Hart.
Police released surveillance video of a man wanted for questioning in the case. He's described as a Hispanic man with a light complexion, 5 feet 6 inches tall and 200 pounds.
Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. You can also submit a tip via the Crime Stoppers website, by Tweeting @NYPDTips or by texting a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.
