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Update: Cops Believe Riverside Attacks Are Connected
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 9, 2010
Modified Jul 9, 2010
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at 98th Street
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 9, 2010
Modified Jul 9, 2010
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[Update BELOW] Today, the NYPD announced that a second woman was attacked in Riverside Park on July 5. The police say a 48-year-old woman who was walking her dog in the park, when, at 6:20 a.m. and West 98th Street and Riverside Drive, a man walked up behind her, struck her on the back of her head, threw her to the ground and kicked her in the chest and stomach.
Another attack occurred that same day, but at 6 a.m. at 120th Street in the park, near the tennis courts: 19-year-old Barnard student Marisa Cortright was grabbed from behind, punched in the face, and slammed into a concrete wall. She suffered bleeding to the brain, a fractured cheekbone, and lacerations to the head, neck and face; her iPod was also taken.
Police released a sketch of the suspect in the 98th Street attack. According to 1010WINS, "Police say the suspect is believed to be in his 20s, about 5' 8" tall with a thin build. He was last seen wearing blue shorts with blue and white boxers." The man in the police sketch for the 120th Street attack is described alternately as a "person of interest" and a "suspect" (a police officer at the NYPD press office said he could be considered "both")—a 6-foot-2, heavyset black man in his mid-40s wearing a bright blue, long-sleeved shirt and black pants who was seen leaving the park. Police, at this point, do not think the attacks are related.
Update: Now cops think the two attacks are related. It's believed the man in the 98th Street sketch attacked Cortright at 120th Street.
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98th Street
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Upper West Side
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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