Man Tries To Rape 2 Women In 2 Hours In Subway Assaults: Cops

NEW YORK, NY — A man prowling the city's subways on Saturday tried to rape two women just over an hour, and an entire borough, apart, police said.

The man, caught in a photo by one of the victims, first tried to sexually assault a woman at the West 72nd Street station around 11:30 a.m. before heading to Brooklyn and attacking a woman on a train near Prospect Park, police said.

In the first attack, a 36-year-old woman was trying to transfer from a southbound 1 train to a 3 train when the man blocked her from getting on the subway car. He then dragged the woman toward the end of the platform and started groping her and trying to take off her pants, police said.

The woman was able to fight off the man, scratching at his face until he fled, police said. She was taken to Mount Sinai West with minor injuries.

Less than two hours later, the same man punched a 25-year-old woman in the chest while the two were riding an F train at the Prospect Park station.

After knocking the woman off her feet and onto a bench, the man got on top of her and tried lifting up her skirt, police said.

Again, the woman was able to fend off the man, calling over a conductor who yelled at him until he ran into the next train car. The woman was able to take a photo of the man through open train doors as he then ran into the station, police said.

The second victim, who also had minor injuries, refused medical attention, police said.

Police described the man as being between 25 and 30 years old, standing approximately 5'4" tall, weighing 140 pounds and having a thin build, brown eyes and short straight hair. He was last seen wearing a black Florida Marlins base ball cap, a black and green hooded windbreaker, tan belt, blue jeans and black sneakers.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident 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 Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.