Benjamin Carroll

Woman Who Fought Off Persistent NYC Groper With Umbrella Says No One Came to Her Aid

"Nobody paid attention to me, nobody cared," the woman said. "I saw the people going into stores — nobody [did] nothing"

What to Know

  • A 30-year-old woman was continuously groped by a man in Brooklyn earlier this month, police say
  • The 30-year-old woman was walking at the corner of Livonia Avenue and Rockaway Avenue in Brownsville March 10 when the man came up to her
  • No injuries were reported; witnesses are urged to call Crime Stoppers with tips

A woman who fought off a man who continuously groped her in Brooklyn says bystanders heard her screaming, but no one came to her aid.

The NYPD released surveillance video of the woman with an umbrella fighting off the man trying to grope her backside several times on March 10 at around 8 a.m.

The 30-year-old woman was walking at the corner of Livonia Avenue and Rockaway Avenue in Brownsville when the man continuously slapped her from behind and grabbed her, police said.

The man eventually ran away, but hasn’t been seen since.

The woman told News 4 she hasn't been able to leave her home alone since she was groped.

"He was in back of me, hitting me, touching me, trying to take my clothes off," she recalled. "I told him, 'Leave me alone, you don't know me.'"

The woman was walking to work a few blocks from home when the incident happened, she said. 

"I never in my life thought something like that would happen to me," she said. "I started cursing, and I thought that he was going to walk away." 

When the man refused to stop, she fought back, swinging her umbrella and screaming, but no one stopped to help her, she recalled. 

"Nobody paid attention to me, nobody cared," she said. "I saw the people going into stores — nobody [did] nothing." 

The woman said she's refusing to take her young daughter outside until the man has been arrested. 

"Right now, every day, every day, I'm not the same," she said.

Witnesses are urged to call Crime Stoppers with tips.

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