A 73-year-old woman out birdwatching around noon on Wednesday was hit on the head, robbed and raped in the Strawberry Fields section of Central Park, according to police. The attacker reportedly approached her in the park around 74th Street just off of Central Park West.
Another birdwatcher found the woman sprawled across a path with a black eye and swollen face. She told him she’d been raped and that the attacker had slammed her head into the ground, DNAinfo reported.
Update: Photos of rape suspect at right from NYPD.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the woman told police her assailant may have been a man she photographed exposing himself in Central Park a few days ago, the AP reported.
More from the New York Times:
The woman, a bird-watcher who goes to the park every day, had encountered the man before. About a week and a half ago, she had seen him masturbating in the Brambles area and taken a photo of him. At the time, the man demanded that the woman delete the photo, and when she refused, he tried unsuccessfully to take her camera.
Then Wednesday, around 11:50 a.m., the woman was birding near Strawberry Fields when the man, whom she described as white and clean shaven, with a Russian accent and in his 40s or 50s, appeared again.
He said to her, “Do you remember me?”
Then he threw her to the ground, raped her and stole her bag, which contained a camera. It was not clear if the camera was the one that she had used earlier or if she kept the photos from the earlier encounter, which she never reported to the police.
Police were seeking the attacker in the area around Strawberry Fields, which is North of 72nd Street on the West Side of the Park. The woman was transported to Roosevelt Hospital.
Parts of Central Park were closed after the incident.
We will continue updating with more information.
About a week and a half ago, a rape was reported in Riverside Park near 96th Street.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to contact Crime Stoppers — by phone (800-577-8477) or text (text to 274637 and enter TIP577 before the information), or by visiting the Web site.
Photo by cryjack.
At noon??? Seriously???
Corporal punishment for deviants and capital punishment for rapists.
On 74th and CPW??? There are a million tourists there every day. How the hell does this happen?
some of this story just doesn’t add up
Where did they get this picture? It certainly wasn’t taken in the Brambles.
This is horrifying. But the point isn’t that she was 73. Her age is irrelevant, and besides that on the UWS 73 is far from decrepitude. The point is that a woman bird watcher was raped, after having confronted someone who exposed himself. Men exposing themselves have always been dismissed as harmless misfits. I’ve lived on the UWS for 40 years — exposed to in the Sheep Meadow, on West End Avenue, up at the 119th Street tennis courts. Just try prosecuting it. The point is that a woman going about her own business was raped in Central Park. Her age is irrelevant. Rape of a 23 year old is understandable??? And maybe we need to rethink our benign attitude towards what the French call “flaneurs.” A man waving his penis around in front of a woman is not a routine day in the park. It’s a psychic assault. And sometimes, as we see here, a physical assault.
First and foremost rape is a crime of violence and this guy seemed really angry
at the woman who he assaulted. I’m a birdwatcher and have been in these areas
many many times and there are plenty of places where someone can grab someone,
hit them over the head, mug them and then
rape them. It doesn’t matter what time it
is. If you wander around central park just
beware of your surrondings at all times —
any day no matter how crowded it might be.
I’m a bird watcher/photographer and I think I know who the victim is. She’s a lovely person. Like Alana said, there are a lot of places that are remote enough for something to happen without passers-by noticing. This must have happened on the wood chip path running along the east side of Strawberry Fields. Not a lot of people go through there, even during the busiest times during the weekend. It’s great for birding but now I’m thinking twice about going there alone.