Police are looking for a man on a scooter who viciously attacked a 59-year-old woman on a Brooklyn street curb -- and in the street itself -- during a prolonged assault in full view of passing vehicles and a sanitation street sweeper that was caught on video.
The caught-on-camera attack happened around 2 a.m. in East Flatbush on March 31. Police released surveillance video in their effort to find the attacker, though some may find it painfully long to watch. In it, a man on a motorized scooter rides up from behind the victim as she walks, a bag in her hand, on a Church Avenue sidewalk.
It appears words are exchanged, then the scooter driver socks the woman in the head, knocking her into the street and to the ground, where she stays for some time. As she writhes there, seemingly trying to get up, the scooter rider, who had driven off after the initial face slap, rides back from the opposite direction. He stops by the woman.
The two struggle in the street. The scooter rider then appears to fight to pull the woman or drag her in the direction of his vehicle, which is still in the street, hauling her mainly limp body around. He is seen ripping her pants and underwear as he sexually abused her in a more than 90-second ordeal that played out in full view of a street sweeper and other vehicles passing by in the middle of the night.
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Eventually, the woman gets to her feet, words are exchanged with her attacker and another scuffle ensues. The suspect tries to grab her, and speak to her, as she backs away. Ultimately he gets back on his scooter and rides off.
Among the vehicles seen driving around the scene in the police video was a Department of Sanitation street sweeper. The agency says it's investigating, though it's not clear if the driver saw what was going on, understood it or reported it.
The victim refused medical care at the scene. Anyone with information on the attack is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
