The man wanted for allegedly dragging a woman off a running trail in a Manhattan park in a sexually motivated robbery over the weekend has been linked to two similar cases, police said late Tuesday.
Both of those attacks happened prior to Saturday's daylight ambush in Fort Tyron Park, but all three have been in the last few weeks. According to the NYPD, the first victim in the pattern was a 28-year-old woman jogging inside Fort Washington Park, near West 163rd Street and Riverside Drive, after midnight on Sept. 14.
In that case, a man approached her, said he had a gun and ordered her to lay on the ground while he groped her. He rode off on a scooter. Nothing was stolen in that case.
Four days later, around the same time, cops say the same man grabbed a 22-year-old woman jogging on the Hudson River Greenway Trail near Henry Hudson Parkway and Wst 163rd Street. He didn't steal anything then, either.
The thefts came with the most recent attack on Saturday, Sept. 24. That one happened in Fort Tyron Park, near Henry Hudson Parkway and Tyron Place, shortly before 11 a.m. Cops say a 35-year-old woman was running in the area and the man sneaked up and dragged her, by her hair, behind a tree, where he punched her in the face and flashed a knife.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
Cops say he then sexually attacked the woman before snatching her watch and phone and riding off on a scooter.
News
The victim was treated for injuries to her left eye, left arm and right leg.
Police released new surveillance footage in the case (above). Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
