Yonkers Man Sentenced in Pair of Sexual Assaults

Yonkers resident Frank Polanco-Batista, 28, was sentenced Wednesday to 12 1/3 to 17 years in prison in connection with the August 2014 sexual assaults of two different women, Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced.

In July, Polanco-Batista was convicted of the following charges related to the crimes:

• one count of Attempted Rape in the First Degree, a class “C” Felony,
• one count of Attempted Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, a class “E” Felony,
• one count of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, a class “D” Felony,
• one count of Robbery in the Third Degree, a class “D” Felony,
• one count of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a class “E” Felony,
• one count of Criminal Obstruction of Breathing or Blood Circulation, a class “A” Misdemeanor.

According to DiFiore, at about 2 a.m. on Aug. 24 of last year, Polanco-Batista entered the Roosevelt Ballroom in Yonkers where he proceeded to the ladies bathroom. Once inside, he hid in a stall and laid in wait.

“A female victim entered the bathroom and walked into an adjacent stall. When she exited the stall she was in, the female victim was assaulted by the defendant who attempted to rape her; tearing her clothes and undergarments. He ran off when someone else came in. The victim was not able to identify him,” according to DiFiore.

Around three hours later at approximately 5:20 a.m., police officers from the Yonkers Police Department responded to the scene of a reported robbery on South Broadway.

Upon their arrival, the victim told police that she was in the parking lot next to the White Castle calling a taxi when an unknown male, later learned to be Polanco-Batista, approached her from behind, stood in front of her, and grabbed her iPhone out of her hand, according to DiFiore.

The woman told police that when she demanded her cell phone back and attempted to take it from the defendant, he forced his hand down her shirt, groped her breast, and pulled at her shirt causing it to tear.

Shortly after speaking with police, the victim gave them a description of the defendant and told them he fled west on Highland Avenue.

His description was aired over the radio, and shortly thereafter, the defendant, who matched the description, was seen running, and was detained nearby. Police then transported the victim to that location.

At approximately 5:37 a.m. the victim positively identified the defendant and he was taken to Yonkers Police Headquarters.

While being transported, the defendant spontaneously told the officers where he put the phone, and proceeded to direct officers to its location.

Police followed the defendant’s directions, and successfully recovered a cell phone located by the side of an outside staircase leading up to his house.

Sometime thereafter, the victim identified the cell phone as the item that had been taken from her earlier that morning.

DiFiore said that police were able to link Batista to the earlier attack through DNA analysis obtained via CODIS (Combined DNA Indexing System). Specifically, skin cells found under the first victim’s fingernails and a t-shirt worn during that attack that featured an image of Abraham Lincoln holding a red Solo cup with the caption “I’m so going to fourscore tonight.”

Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lopez, Deputy Bureau Chief of the Sex Crimes Bureau, prosecuted the case.

Photo: Frank Polanco-Batista. Photo credit: Westchester County District Attorney’s office