As we reported Saturday morning, several residents said that a man had attacked a woman on East Eighth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. The Local reported earlier today that the NYPD arrested a 51-year-old man for raping the woman.
DNAInfo has more graphic details about the horrific assault, which occurred around 8:20 a.m. Saturday. The man, listed as Neil Essex, "allegedly threw the woman to the ground and began punching her in the face ... The complaint claimed that Essex then removed the woman’s pants and raped her while choking her so viciously that she lost consciousness."
As an EV Grieve reader said: "Someone walked out of their building, saw it happening, and called the NYPD. They arrived fairly quickly and apparently the suspect was caught."
Essex is scheduled to next appear in court on Thursday, DNAinfo reported.
9 comments:
As a victim of a gunpoint rape, my heart goes out to the victim. In the unlikely event that she reads this--it's a long, hard road back to normalcy, but it can be done. Therapy helps a great deal. And it's NOT your fault! I thought I was out too late, blah blah, but none of it is true. And the rape prosecutors are fantastic and compassionate.
Holy Crap. Glad he got caught. Hope he gets his in the slammer.
this makes me want to vomit
This is horrible. I hope the woman gets the help she needs and makes a full recovery.
What also disturbs me is I've not seen this incident reported anywhere else (other than your link to DNA). When that musician was attacked a few weeks ago, nearly every news outlet kept running with it, but this crime is not getting the attention. There have been armed muggings in the area, too - people need to be aware and be careful. Are there more attacks like this going on that we just don't know about?
I live on this block with my wife and kids. I stopped by the scene about 10am and asked the police offices what had happened - they barely acknowledged me and only said that an "older woman had been assaulted". I stopped by again because I was so troubled that this occured so close to our home. This time, there were two detectives on the scene. I politely introduced myself as a homeowner on the block and asked specifically if the assault had been sexual and if the suspect was described. This time one of the uniformed offices spoke up and said - "assault - perp is in jail" And ignored me once again. However I did hear the detectives on the radio saying that the suspect was a resident of a mental health halfway house on sixth street. I was really put off by the indifference of the cops to my very polite and sincere questions. I'm REALLY upset about the victim here and how this could happen on our block in broad daylight in the early morning. Yes, I'm 20 year resident of downtown Manhattan - I KNOW - but still, it seem the city is sliding slowly but surely backwards on the crime front.
@Anon 2:33
Thanks for sharing that.
This is so scary. I thought this neighborhood was pretty safe, especially with the precinct being on the corner. I guess not. I hope the woman that was attacked makes it through this and feels better.
At 8:20 no less? WTF?!? At least they caught the sick fuck. Mental health patient or not (@Anon 2:33), the judge better throw the book at this lunatic.
...the precinct being on the corner...
Um, hello, the 9th Precinct house was briefly located at 8th and C while the old 5th St. house was refurbished. They've been back on 5th St. for years now. The police building on 8th and C is now used for training, etc.
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