A woman says she was able to fight off a would-be rapist who stalked her and pulled her pants down on a New York City street by smashing the attacker in the face with her cellphone.
The 47-year-old woman was walking near Kingsbridge and Webb Avenue at about 2 a.m. Monday when a man in a red jacket began following her, surveillance video obtained exclusively by NBC 4 New York shows. Moments later, he attacked.
"The guy on the corner, he go by me, he grabbed me," said the woman, who asked not to be identified.
The man put her in a bear hug.
"He's grabbing me and I panic. It's panic," the woman said.
He then pulled her pants down. But the woman fought back, punching the man in the face with her cellphone in hand.
"I put it boom in there, in the face," she said.
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She then yelled out for help.
"I go to tell somebody in the grocery store, 'Help me! Help me! Somebody took my pants down,'" she said.
A good Samaritan called police while another drove around the neighborhood looking for the attacker who escaped down Eames Place. Cameras spotted the suspect in the same red jacket in a restaurant nearby.
The woman said her sense of safety is shaken and an arrest is key to keeping the neighborhood safe from the predator.
"Be careful. That's not a good man on the street," she said.
The man is wanted for attempted rape.
Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
