NYPD released new photos, video of suspected Central park rapist
The NYPD is pulling out all the stops to catch the man who raped a woman in Central Park this week.
New surveillance pictures and video released by police Friday track the alleged sexual predator from the 59th St. and Fifth Ave. subway station to a pizzeria on Eighth Ave. near the Port Authority Bus Terminal, cops said.
The photos show the man trekked south after the Thursday morning attack on a woman taking a walk in Central Park, police said.
Dressed all in black, the man is accused of grabbing the 27-year-old from behind, choking her unconscious and raping her on a secluded footpath near The Pond, on the southeastern edge of the park near Central Park South, cops said.
After the assault, it appears the man jumped on the subway at 59th St. and Fifth Ave. and headed downtown. Police released surveillance pictures from inside the station on Thursday night.
He was later caught on video — with a marijuana pin on his baseball hat and his mask below his nose — pacing inside a deli on Eighth Ave. near W. 41st St. near the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Finally, he was captured outside 2 Bros Pizza on Eighth Ave., and W. 38th St.
The NYPD promised increased patrols in the park after the attack.
As of Nov. 7, there have been seven rapes in the urban oasis this year, compared with two in all of 2020, police department data shows.
Another woman was the victim of an attempted rape about 45 minutes after the park assault on Thursday and police initially thought the same man was responsible for both crimes.
The second attack, on a footpath on the Randalls Island Bridge at E. 103rd St. and the FDR Drive was allegedly committed by convicted sex offender, Howard Shaw, 58, cops said.
