A suspected serial creep attacked a 31-year-old German tourist walking back to her Airbnb in Manhattan, snatching her purse and repeatedly punching her so hard her teeth fell out, authorities say. The woman fell to the ground, unconscious. Then, cops say, he groped her all over her body.
The brutal 3 a.m. Thursday ambush in Harlem was captured by surveillance cameras (warning: the video featured above contains footage some may find disturbing). The video shows the man yank away the woman's bag. He then punches her in the head and she falls to the sidewalk. He continues to hit her as she lies on the ground, then tears off her pants and sexually abuses her.
The woman was last listed at a hospital in serious but stable condition, officials said.
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Authorities announced Friday they arrested a man in a similar attack on April 24, in which he allegedly walked up to a woman in nearby Hamilton Heights on April 24, pretended he had a gun and took her bag from her.
The man then hit the woman in her face several times, pulled her pants down and touched her groin area, authorities said. He ran off afterwards.
That woman was also treated at a hospital.
Police are investigating a link between the attacks, but the suspect in the April 24th attack has not yet officially been connected to the one targeting the tourist on Thursday.
The suspect is about 20 years old, police said. Surveillance video released by the NYPD shows him at various department stores, wearing a bright green track suit. Police are asking for the public's help bringing him into custody.
Meanwhile, the neighborhood is on edge. At least one resident says the community needs to fight back.
"It’s all about self-defense," Jeraldine Young, of Hamilton Heights, said. "Don’t cringe and let him go. He’s going to try the next person. We need to get together and fight back it’s been going on too long."
