The NYPD is searching for a man who is wanted in connection to the attempted rape of a 13-year-old girl in the Bronx on Monday.
The suspect, believed to be in his mid-20s, followed the girl down the sidewalk after she left a 6 train station in the vicinity of Southern Boulevard and Leggett Avenue around 7:45 p.m., police said.
The man then followed the victim into the stairwell of a residential building, where he tried to put his hands down the front of her pants to forcibly remove her clothes, according to the police report.
The girl’s father, who asked not to be identified, told NBC4 that his daughter knew someone was following her and “when she went into the building, she was scared.”
Surveillance footage obtained by the station, which differs from a video of the suspect the police released, show the man following the victim in close proximity as she walked down the sidewalk.
The girl fought the man off when he tried to attack her in the stairway, and he fled in an unknown direction. He was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, black T-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers.
Anyone with information about the suspect’s identity or whereabouts are asked to contact NYPD’s Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish, NYPDCrimeStoppers.com or by texting a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577.
