A violent assailant beat, strangled and attempted to rape a 22-year-old woman on a Brooklyn street early Thursday, authorities said.
Police say an unknown man approached a woman at Herkimer Street and Saratoga Avenue in Ocean Hill around 2:15 a.m. and punched her in the face multiple times.
He then pushed her to the ground, strangled her and sexually assaulted her, authorities said.
Police said the unidentified predator then took off and headed east on Flushing Street.
The victim was taken to Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was listed in serious but stable condition.
Video released by the NYPD shows the suspect, who is still at large, walking on the sidewalk.
He is described as a man with a stocky build and dark skin, and was last seen wearing a yellow vest, black hooded sweater, and black pants.
The city saw an 18.7% increase in rape cases last year, with the NYPD receiving 1,736 such calls through Sunday, according to the latest data available.
According to statistics, a total of 1,462 rape cases were reported in the city during the same period last year.
In July, the NYPD's chief of detectives said the department's Special Victims Unit, which investigates sexual assault cases, was being strengthened.
“We have significantly increased our Special Victims Unit,” Kenney told reporters. “We're constantly hiring, we're hiring new people, we're staffing at levels we haven't seen in years, so our caseload is down; [in] More arrests. So we take that seriously. “Special Victims'' has undergone a complete change of direction. ”
Anyone with information about the latest attacks is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA.
