An immigrant accused of raping a woman at knifepoint near a popular beach promenade in the New York borough of Brooklyn made his first court appearance as details of his and another suspect’s past police encounters emerged.
According to reports, New York City Police say suspect David Davon Bonilla, who faces charges including first-degree rape and sexual abuse in connection with the attack on Coney Island on Sunday night, has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.
Police say the 24-year-old man crossed the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, in December 2022 and headed toward New York City, telling Border Patrol agents at the time he was going to Miami.
Then last April, Davon Bonilla sexually assaulted a 34-year-old woman while staying at a hotel-turned-shelter in another part of Brooklyn, and later pleaded guilty to second-degree assault. WABC reported.
A New York City woman was stabbed and raped by an immigrant near a popular beach boardwalk, police and sources say.
An arrest photo of David Davon Bonilla, who is accused of raping a woman in New York City’s Coney Island neighborhood on Sunday, August 11. (Obtained from NY Post)
Davon Bonilla reportedly served time in New York City’s notorious Rikers Island prison before being released on June 24.
“The defendant has served more than a year in prison and has been offered additional time to serve and court-controlled programming after a request from the victim not to testify in any court of law,” WABC quoted the district attorney’s office as saying.
An NYPD source told Fox News that suspect Davon Bonilla is a Nicaraguan immigrant and that the Coney Island incident happened outside a hotel housing asylum seekers.
Another suspect, 37-year-old Leobando Moreno, arrested in Brooklyn this week on rape charges, has also pleaded not guilty, according to WABC.
New York City immigrant rearrested after bail for allegedly punching Times Square police officer
A mugshot of Leovando Moreno, who has reportedly pleaded not guilty and is being held on $20,000 bail. (Obtained from NY Post)
Charged with second-degree assault, Moreno is being held on $20,000 bail and has an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, for alleged indecent exposure dating back to August 2022, WABC reported.
The New York Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
The department said Monday that the victim was attacked around 9 p.m. Sunday night near Surf Avenue and West 16th Street in Coney Island.
“Upon arriving on scene, officers were advised that a 46-year-old woman had been approached by two unknown individuals who held a knife to her throat and forced her to the ground, one of whom then raped the victim,” an NYPD spokesperson said. “When the 34-year-old male victim attempted to intervene, the second individual struck him with an object.”
Police said the rape happened on Sunday near the Coney Island boardwalk in the New York borough of Brooklyn. (Gary Hirschhorn/Getty Images)
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Police said the female victim was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, but the male victim, identified by The New York Post through a law enforcement source as the victim’s boyfriend, refused medical treatment.
Fox News’ Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.
