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Police: Man Faked Bike Injury To Grope Woman, Then Broke Into Her Bedroom
By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 1, 2019
Modified Aug 1, 2019
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 1, 2019
Modified Aug 1, 2019
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Police are looking for a man who they say faked a bike injury to grope a woman, then broke into her Queens apartment and stood over her while she slept.
The incident happened last Saturday around 2:50 a.m. in the vicinity of 24th Street and 23rd Avenue in Long Island City. A 26-year-old woman was approached by the suspect, who claimed he had been in a bike accident and was injured. The man claimed he needed medical assistance, but then touched her breasts. The woman ran into her nearby apartment building.
Then around 4:30 a.m., the woman awoke in her bedroom to discover the same man was in her room, standing over her. The woman screamed and the suspect fled out the bedroom's second floor window.
"I heard her scream and she was like, 'Did you hear someone come in?' And I didn’t because I was fast asleep," John Settineri, the woman's roommate, told CBS. "It’s an invasion of privacy. Someone you don’t really know well comes into your room with the intent to probably harm her."
The roommates were able to figure out how the man got inside: "We saw the air conditioner. It was literally like removed from her window entirely. That’s how he got in," Settineri said.
The suspect is described as approximately 30-years-old, weighing 180 lbs., 5'8" tall with close-cut short dark hair.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website, or on Twitter.
Tagged
creepy
groper
harassment
long island city
nypd
police
queens
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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