Park Slope May Have More Than 1 Attempted Rapist, Cops Say

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Two attempted rapes earlier this month that police thought were connected might have been committed by two different men, police said.

Police released new surveillance photos from both of the assaults — which happened a week apart and only a few blocks from each other — on Friday and said there is a new possibility that they are looking for two separate men.

The first assault happened around 4:30 a.m. on Sep. 8 when a man tried to rape a 26-year-old woman in her apartment building. The man followed the woman into the vestibule of her building as she was coming home and, when the two were inside, exposed himself and tried to grab the woman's waist to stop her from going further into the building, police said.

That man ended up running away toward Prospect Park West after the woman struggled against him. She was not injured, police said.

About a week later, a 17-year-old girl was assaulted around 7 p.m. on Sep. 16. This time, a man came up to the girl as she was walking near Carroll Street and Eighth Avenue and grabbed her butt, police said. The man threatened to sexually assault the girl, but she was able to run away.

A 50-year-old man who was near the assault ran after the would-be rapist, but the suspect kicked the man and ran away, police said.

Anyone with information in regard to these incidents is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.