Metro

Tourist beaten, sexually assaulted and robbed in vicious attack

A German tourist had her teeth knocked out during a horrific robbery and sexual assault in Harlem carried out by an on-the-loose thug who is being investigated for another violent mugging in the area, police said Friday.

The 31-year-old victim, whose identity was not immediately released, had gone to a bar after attending a seminar at John Jay College on West 59th Street with some other guests, and then took the subway back uptown to her Airbnb rental early Thursday, cops said.

The woman was walking along West 146th Street between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard – nearby Jackie Robinson Park – at around 2:50 a.m. when she was approached by a man wearing a hoodie, police said.





“I have a gun, give me your bag,” the victim told police the man said, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.

Surveillance video released by cops shows the man holding the woman against a wall and grabbing her bag, which contained her passport and laptop.

When she tries to pull her bag back, he whacks her in the face so hard that she’s knocked to the ground — where he then hits her face at least three more times, the video shows.

“He grabs the bag from her and in doing so pushes her to the ground and punches her several times. She is then sexually assaulted,” Boyce told reporters Friday.

Police sources said that the man initially ran away because the victim was yelling, but he came back when she passed out and sexually assaulted her.





The attack left the woman with several teeth knocked out, cop sources said.

“She lost teeth. He beat her bad,” a source said.

The thug then fled eastbound on 146th Street with the victim’s purse, cops said.

The victim sustained trauma to her face and paramedics rushed her to Harlem Hospital where she was listed in stable condition, police said.

Boyce said that police have identified the suspect who they believe is responsible for a similar robbery on April 24 nearby Jackie Robinson Park.

In that case, a 35-year-old woman was approached by a man from behind while walking on Bradhurst Avenue between West 148th and 149th streets at around 4 a.m.

The suspect said “I have a gun,” as he simulated a firearm to the screaming victim who he then punched multiple times before running off with her handbag.





“Right now they look to be the same cases, the same M.O. without the sexual assault in the first one,” Boyce said.

Police described the assailant as black, about 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds with short dark hair. He was last seen wearing gray sweatpants, white sneakers and a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt.

“We’re asking everybody in the neighborhood if they know this individual to call the police immediately,” said Boyce.

Airbnb said in a statement, “We are outraged by the reports of what happened to our guest. Our team is actively working to support her and is assisting the NYPD with their investigation. We hope this criminal is brought to justice as soon as possible.”

Locals were horrified by the incident and said that the area in and around Jackie Robinson Park is seedy.





“There’s some really bad people out here,” a longtime resident who would only identify herself as Tamara said.

Another resident said, “It’s scary…They need to catch that guy…before he kills someone.”

Anyone with information on the attack is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Additional reporting by Kevin Fasick





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