102nd Precinct Commanding Officer Henry Sautner said at this week’s Community board 9 meeting that officers continue to focus on safety efforts at Forest Park following the rape that occurred in the park in August. Anna Gustafson/The Forum Newsgroup
The commanding officer of the 102nd Police Precinct, Deputy Inspector Henry Sautner, said he and his officers are doing everything they can to keep Forest Park safe and catch a rapist who attacked a 69-year-old jogger in the Forest Hill section of the park at the end of August.
“We are maintaining a presence at the park on a 24/7 basis,” Sautner said at the Community Board 9 meeting Tuesday night.
While the precinct cannot keep as many officers as it was able to immediately following August’s sex attack, Sautner said his precinct has been conducting two to three operations a week in the area, “with the goal being eyes and ears in the park.”
“For four to six weeks, there was an increase in personnel,” Sautner said. “Unfortunately those resources can’t be maintained.”
Since the end of August, police have been searching for a stun-gun wielding man who they say raped the elderly jogger around 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 in the section of the park near 72nd Street and Union Turnpike.
Police have released this sketch of the man they say is wanted in connection with the rape of an elderly jogger in Forest Park. File Photo
Police believe the individuals is linked to at least five other sexual assaults in the area since 2011.
NYPD officials said the perpetrator 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. He is also wanted for attacks in November of 2012, when he allegedly touched with his genitals a 40-year-old woman jogging with her dog near Park Lane South and Myrtle Avenue around 9 p.m.
According to police, he tried to rape a 13-year-old girl walking near Park Lane South and Myrtle Avenue, and he also allegedly attempted to fondle a 34-year-old female while she walked near Park Lane South and Woodhaven Boulevard.
And in 2011, police said the man attempted to rape a 54-year-old jogger.
Police are offering a $22,000 reward for the arrest, indictment and conviction of the person responsible.
The perpetrator is described as a white man who is between the ages of 30- and 40-years-old, stands at about 5-foot-10 with a thin build, and has short hair, police said.
Anyone with information should contact the NYPD at (800) 577-TIPS.
Following these attacks, residents said they have grown increasingly concerned about the lack of lights around Forest Park.
Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association President Ed Wendell said the city needs to keep the park lights on far longer than they currently do, considering many joggers go out before dawn and the area is frequently pitch black. The civic leader noted that conditions in the park have been reported for weeks but the area remains problematic.
By Anna Gustafson
