Police released this sketch of the man they said is connected to five sexual attacks in the Forest Park area over the past couple of years, including the recent rape of a 69-year-old jogger. NYPD
Police said this week they are pulling out all the stops trying to find a stun-gun wielding man who raped a 69-year-old jogger in Forest Park at the end of August – and who the NYPD announced last week has been linked to at least five other sexual assaults in the area since 2011.
“We are following up on every lead; nothing is being passed over,” 102nd Precinct Commanding Officer Henry Sautner said at a Community Board 9 meeting Tuesday night.
NYPD officials said last week that the perpetrator wanted for the Aug. 26 crime – which happened in broad daylight, around 4:30 p.m., in the Forest Hills section of the park near 72nd Street and Union Turnpike – is also wanted for attempting to rape a 23-year-old female jogger near Union Turnpike and Metropolitan Avenue on March 29 of this year. After police said he used a stun gun on the woman’s neck, he attempted to rape her but ran off after he saw another person near them in the park.
The NYPD said the same perpetrator is wanted for a Nov. 28, 2012 assault in which he touched a 40-year-old woman jogging with her dog near Park Lane South and Myrtle Avenue around 9 p.m. with his genitals – and then ran away when she screamed.
He is also allegedly responsible for three incidents in 2011, police said. On Sept. 7, 2011, the assailant again attempted to rape a female – this time a 13-year-old girl who was walking near Park Lane South and Myrtle Avenue in Forest Park. Police said he grabbed the teen from behind and shoved her to the ground before fleeing the scene when the girl fought back. The suspect attempted to fondle a 34-year-old female while she walked near Park Lane South and Woodhaven Boulevard around 1 p.m. on Aug. 15, but, again, ran away when she screamed. The attacker is also wanted for attempting to rape a 54-year-old female jogger early in the morning on March 25, 2011. At that time, police said he threw the woman to the ground and tried to pull off her pants before she was able to escape.
Police are offering a $22,000 reward for the arrest, indictment and conviction of the person responsible.
In response to the most recent incident, police have increased their presence in the park, a massive swath of land that covers more than 500 acres – a size that obviously makes patrolling difficult.
“If I had 500 officers working in the 102nd, that still wouldn’t be enough,” Sautner said at the CB 9 meeting.
“…And I can’t put every single cop I have into the park,” Sautner continued.
Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association President Ed Wendell and other civic leaders are advocating for the park to be designated as a separate precinct – or, at the very least, place an NYPD substation in the green space.
“Obviously, whatever happens, they need more enforcement,” Wendell said.
Wendell and others have also stressed that there are too many park lights that are not on in the early morning hours. The WRBA president said, following complaints last week about the number of lights being out, that the city seems to be leaving them on after 5 a.m. – typically, many of them would be turned off before then, leaving many early-morning walkers and joggers in the dark.
Problem areas have included the stretch from Park Lane South to Myrtle Avenue along Forest Park Drive – where the suspect has attacked – as well as along Myrtle Avenue from Woodhaven Boulevard to Park Lane South.
Anyone with information about the suspectshould contact the NYPD at (800) 577-TIPS.
By Anna Gustafson
