Multiple sexual assaults fitting similar descriptions have occurred over the last week in Bushwick, the Brooklyn neighborhood now known more for artisanal pizza at Roberta’s than dingy warehouses. Just a block away from the restaurant, “I was taking stuff out of the garage and moments after I opened the door onto White Street I felt my head being grabbed by my hair and slammed into the brick wall,” one of the victims told Gothamist. “He was ripping at my jacket from behind and he was trying to put his hand over my mouth, and telling me, ‘I’m gonna fuck you,’ or ‘I’m gonna fuck you up.’ Before he was able to get it all the way over I screamed loud enough to make him run.”
A second victim described a similar attack, and both women reported their stories to the police, but according to Bushwick Daily, five women may have been assaulted in all. “The attacker is tall, medium build, Hispanic, wearing a hooded jacket. He grabs the women in the dark from behind and slams them against a building wall, covering their mouths so they can’t scream,” reported a tipster. “He has attacked several women on Knickerbocker Ave., on White St., Bushwick Ave., & Moore St (near Roberta’s). We only know of 5 women attacked so far, but the actual number is quite possibly much higher.”
The NYPD is investigating, while some locals are looking toward Brooklyn Bike Patrol, a group providing complimentary escorts home in the area, for help in the meantime. “The community is sort of pulling together to make everyone aware of what happened, and the neighborhood sort of goes through waves of this as different people move in,” said one of the victims. “But I want to see more police cars on the street. Ideally I’d like to see the police show that they’re taking this seriously.”
