LOWER EAST SIDE — The NYPD is searching for a man suspected of raping one woman and attempting to assault two others inside their Lower East Side apartment buildings Thursday morning.
The suspect first followed a 33-year-old woman into her apartment building on James Street at 5.40 a.m. Thursday morning, police said. Once inside the building, the man attempted to rape and rob her, but the woman was able to fight him off.
Two hours later, the man followed a 24-year-old woman into her building on Broome Street, where he grabbed her by the shoulders, snatched her ID-card out her hand and ran once she began screaming, police said.
The suspect struck again in a building along the FDR Drive at 8:45 a.m. when he forced a 40-year old woman from the stairway into her apartment where he raped her, according to the NYPD.
That victim was taken to an area hospital where she was treated and released, police said.
The suspect was caught on surveillance video conversing with his last victim before attacking her. Police describe him as being in his mid-20s to mid-30s and about 5-foot-9.
Anyone with information in regards to these incidents is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.
