Serial rapist busted for robbing, raping woman in Bronx elevator: NYPD

A 46-year-old serial rapist released from prison five weeks ago has been arrested for raping a Bronx woman inside an apartment building elevator during a harrowing attack caught on camera, the NYPD said Thursday.

Cops were hunting for parolee Ramon Rotestan when he walked into the 49th Precinct on Eastchester Road in Allerton early Thursday morning, claiming that he wanted to “clear his name,” police sources said.

Detectives took Rotestan into custody, then, after further investigation, charged the Bronx resident with rape and sexually motivated robbery, police said.

Late Wednesday, cops received a tip that a man caught on video raping a 40-year-old woman inside an elevator of a Bolton St. apartment building near Lydig Ave. Monday night was Rotestan, who had been arrested twice before for rape and once for aggravated sex abuse, officials said.

Rotestan was convicted of burglary and rape in Manhattan in December, 2006 and was released on parole on March 30, according to court records. He’s listed as a level three sex offender in the state’s sex offender registry.

On Monday, Rotestan followed his victim into the elevator of an apartment building near Bolton St. and Lydig Ave. at about 10 p.m., cops said.

The suspect — sporting glasses and a blue surgical mask — spoke with the woman before pulling a small knife and demanding her money, the video shows.

The victim handed her wallet to Rotestan, who removed $112 from it before pulling a condom from his pocket and unwrapping it, the video shows.

He then raped the woman in the elevator before fleeing the building, police said. EMS called to the scene took the woman to Jacobi Hospital for an evaluation.

Rotestan lives on Westchester Ave. near Van Cortland Park, about two miles from where the attack took place, police said.

Monday’s attack and Rotestan’s two previous rapes, which occurred in 2005 and 2006, all followed a similar pattern: He trailed his victims into an elevator, where he would threaten them at knifepoint and rape and rob them, police sources said.

His parole was expected to end in 2024, officials said.

His arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court was pending Thursday.