Police are searching for a man who they said posed as an ICE agent as he attacked and tried to rape a 51-year-old woman in Brooklyn Heights Tuesday morning. NBC New York’s Erica Byfield reports.
Authorities are asking for the public's help finding a man they say impersonated an Immigrations, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officer and robbed and tried to rape a woman in the lobby of a Brooklyn Heights building in the middle of the morning this week.
According to the NYPD, the 51-year-old woman was in a lobby near Montague and Henry streets shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday when a strange man walked up and forced her into a basement stairwell. Investigators say after the man falsely identified himself as a US immigration official and was wearing a blue coat, similar to the ones seen worn by ICE agents.
The man asked for her identification and, as she looked for it, he punched her, then pulled her down a basement stairwell and tried to sexually assault her.
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WATCH HEREHe stole her chain, cellphone and purse. The man then ran off toward Henry Street.
The woman suffered cuts to her face, along with scratches and bruising; she was taken to a hospital and is expected to be physically OK.
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SIGN UP Anyone with information on the attack is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
