Keon Robinson, the sex offender suspected in the horrific sex attack and robbery of a 31-year-old German tourist as she walked back to her Airbnb in Manhattan last week was sent back to jail after facing a judge on Friday.
Robinson, 28, was remanded after being charged with a number of crimes, including assault, robbery, sex abuse and attempted rape.
Police believe Robinson was the man who violently attacked the tourist on May 4, an attack that was caught on surveillance video.
The video shows a man grabbing the woman from behind, appearing to choke her while taking her bag, prosecutors say. He then grabs her bag, and when she tries to get it back, punches her, causing her to fall to the ground.
The man in the video continues to punch the woman as she’s on the ground, eventually removing some of her clothing and sexually assaulting her repeatedly while continuing to punch her, according to prosecutors’ account of the video. He then stole her bag and left her passed out and partially naked on the sidewalk, prosecutors said.
The woman suffered a number of physical injuries, including a gash to her head, a broken tooth, and bruising, prosecutors said.
Robinson was also charged in connection with another robbery on Bradhurst Avenue in Hamilton Heights on April 24. Detectives had also been looking to question him in connection with that attack, and another one on April 27.
In the April 24 robbery, prosecutors say a man followed behind a woman at 4 a.m. before coming up to her with his hand in his pocket and saying, “I have a gun, give me your bag.” The woman screamed and the man punched her in the face before grabbing her bag, which had a credit card in it.
Prosecutors say video from a Target store shows Robinson using the credit card hours after the attack.
He was arrested after police found him hiding in a home in Schenectady around 9 a.m. Thursday. He resisted arrest and fought with law enforcement officers before he was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force, along with members of the NYPD, New York State Police and local Albany police, officials said. His arrest came after the U.S. Marshals worked several leads.
In addition to the two robberies, police believe Robinson may be connected to other unsolved sex crimes in New York City.
Robinson is a former parolee who served seven years for first-degree robbery and first-degree sexual abuse. He was released in 2014 and is a registered Level 3 sex offender, meaning authorities believe him to have a high-risk for repeat crimes and consider him an ongoing potential threat to public safety.
Robinson was jailed again, this time on a parole violation, last summer, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said at a news briefing Monday. He got out in January. The pattern of attacks began several months later, Boyce said.
