Worker at Chelsea Pet Store Assaulted By "Customer"

Yikes - 23 year old woman working at Spot, a pet accessories boutique on Seventh Avenue and 15th Street, was sexually assaulted by a sort of fake customer. NY1 reports that the attacker "visited the store four times over the course of two hours and made several purchases," but the way the NY Post and Daily News explain it, it seems that he was loitering in the store for over two hours, bought four items with a $50 bill. The employee was suspicious of him and the bill, so she called a male co-worker to come to the store; the co-worker confirmed the bill was authentic but left because he had to go to class. The suspect returned to the store, using a knife to assault the woman in the back room. And he stole her iPod. The victim went to a neighboring store, afraid her attacker would kill her, and the police were called. The Daily News says the neighborhood is worried, because this attack happened in broad daylight (1PM), and is the second neighborhood attack in a month, given the apartment attack that Peter Braunstein is a suspect in. Braunstein is not suspected in this attack, as the attacker is a 6'2", 20 year-old, dark-skinned man.