[UPDATE] After initial reports that an elderly woman was sexually assaulted, struck on the head and robbed of her knapsack at 11:50 a.m. near Central Park West and West 74th Street—near Strawberry Fields—now the police say the 73-year-old woman was raped by a middle-aged man. And the victim suggested that it may have been a man she previously spotted masturbating.
Police say that a week and a half ago, the victim told them she took a photograph of the attacker masturbating in the Ramble. He demanded she delete the photo and, when she refused, tried to steal her camera. City Room reports:
Then Wednesday, around 11:50 a.m., the woman was birding near Strawberry Fields when the man, whom she described as white and clean shaven, with a Russian accent and in his 40s or 50s, appeared again.
He said to her, “Do you remember me?”
Then he threw her to the ground, raped her and stole her bag, which contained a camera. It was not clear if the camera was the one that she had used earlier or if she kept the photos from the earlier encounter, which she never reported to the police. The man also beat her with his fists.
Another birdwatcher, Eric Ozawa, ended up calling 911. According to NBC New York, he said that he saw "pair of legs sticking out along the path but thought it was somebody sleeping. As Ozawa got closer, he realized it was a woman lying face down. Her face was badly swollen, she had a black eye and was covered in mulch."
The victim told him that she had been raped. Ozawa said, "It's shocking that it could happen in the park in broad daylight. That someone could rape somebody in her 70s."
The police released surveillance images of a man wanted for questioning.
Police were still in the park at 8 p.m. (Jen Chung/Gothamist)
