NYPD detectives are hunting a predator who attacked and tried to rape a 22-year-old woman in Brooklyn, police said.
Cops on Friday released images of their suspect, who was sporting a black hooded sweater and a yellow vest at the time of the 2:15 a.m. attack in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Thursday.
The victim was nearing the corner of Herkimer St. and Saratoga Ave. when the suspect crept up on her and pounced.
He punched her repeatedly in the face, shoved her to the ground, strangled and molested her, cops said.
He was about to rape the woman when he suddenly ran off, police said.
The bruised and bloodied woman took herself to Interfaith Medical Center where she reported the attack.
The woman told police that she had never seen her attacker before.
Cops recovered surveillance footage of the suspect walking around the neighborhood. He’s described as a dark-skinned man with a heavy build. Besides the sweater and vest, he was wearing black pants.
The attack comes as police struggle to combat an 18% jump in rapes last year.
As of Dec. 29, cops had investigated 1,736 rapes in the five boroughs — 274 more than the 1,462 reported the same time in 2023.
The jump in rapes was realized early last year. In July, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said his team would be tackling the increase head-on and had brought in more detectives to the department’s Special Victims Unit to do the job.
“We have upstaffed our Special Victims Unit tremendously,” he said. “We’re getting new talent in and we haven’t seen staffing like this in years. We’re really taking it seriously.”
Anyone with information regarding the suspect in Thursday’s attacks is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
