Three Brooklyn men were joined by gay rights groups and anti-violence activists at One Police Plaza on Tuesday as they recounted a recent incident in which they claim they were assaulted by cops because they were gay. 

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  VIDEO: Three men accuse cops of violence, anti-gay slur

Josh Williams, Ben Collins and Antonio Maenza say they were walking past the 79th Precinct police station in Bed-Stuy at about 4 a.m. on June 2 when a police officer accused Williams of public urination and threw him against a squad car.

The men say that the officer was joined by other officers who threw Williams to the ground and pepper sprayed him. They also said one of the officers used an anti-gay slur during the confrontation.

Police, on the other hand, say Williams was urinating on a dumpster in the parking lot of the precinct and was uncooperative when the officer approached him.

Williams was combative and appeared to be drunk, and the other two men interfered with the arrest, police said.

One of the men recorded the incident on video.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the Internal Affairs Bureau would review it.

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A 38-year-old man has been arrested in the stabbing death of a 32-year-old Queens woman inside her home earlier this week, police said.

Cops responded to a call about an assault at 32-48 55th St. in Woodside on Tuesday when they discovered the victim, Katherine Seeber, with multiple stab wounds to her torso. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Pedro Sanchez, who is homeless, has been charged with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon, tampering with evidence and resisting arrest, police said.

Sanchez and the victim were in a relationship and he grew outraged when he learned she was seeing someone else, The Daily News reports.

Seeber herself had served more than a decade in prison for the murder of her step-great-grandmother, 91, in 2000 in upstate New York, the News reports.

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The suspect who allegedly shot three people on Sunday and fired at police officers has been arrested, police said. 

Kevon Brown, 29, was charged with attempted murder and assault on Monday.

Cops say two Impact officers approached an alley at 39 Lenox Road on Sunday afternoon at 3:24 p.m., when they observed Brown with two other men. Brown allegedly pulled out a gun and shot one of the men, a 25-year-old, several times, and then turned around and fired in the direction of the officers.

The officers took cover behind an unoccupied car parked in the alley, cops said. Neither was hit and they did not return fire.

Brown allegedly fled around the back of 39 Lenox Road and ran into the second of the two men he had been seen with in the alley. He shot that man, 42, several times as well, cops said.

Cops say Brown then fled toward 50 Lenox Road, where he ran into a third man, 24, and shot him once in the neck.

He escaped into 70 Lenox Road, exited onto Caton Avenue and then broke into 2201 Caton Ave., cops say. He ran onto the roof, jumped onto a balcony at 2217 Caton Ave. and broke into the apartment there.

The tenant was not home, cops said. The Emergency Service Unit and K-9 officers searched the apartment, the rest of the building and the surrounding areas in their pursuit of Brown.

The 42-year-old victim is in critical condition, and the other two are stable, police said. All three men reportedly knew Brown prior to the shootings. Police said his motives are not yet known, though he has made statements to investigators implicating himself.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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Cops are searching for a group of subway performers who allegedly attacked a 28-year-old straphanger on a Manhattan-bound F train earlier this month.

The victim engaged in a verbal dispute with three “dance show” train performers at approximately 7:20 p.m. on May 7, cops said. The three men began punching the victim numerous times about the head and body. The suspects fled at the 21st Street – Queensbridge station and the victim was taken to Cornell hospital, police said.

Police have released a surveillance photo of the suspects. They are described as black males between 17 and 19 years old.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

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UPDATE: Cops are looking into a beating in the East Village last night that might be another hate-motivated attack.

The information at this time is limited, but a law enforcement source reported that both the victim and the suspect are residents in a homeless shelter in the East Village. The two reportedly were out for drinks and pizza together, and on the walk back to the shelter talked about the victim being gay. 

The victim reportedly told police that outside the shelter, the suspect mumbled anti-gay slurs and beat him up. The victim told police he was knocked unconscious and treated at a hospital.

The Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

Yesterday, before a vigil and march in the West Village against hate crimes, it was announced that police presence will be increased in the areas in Manhattan that have seen a spate of hate crimes over the last few weeks.

While the total number of bias incidents in down by about 29 percent from last year, anti-gay attacks have nearly doubled, according to police data. There have so far been at least 25 anti-gay incidents, including this SoHo attack, compared to 14 anti-gay incidents by this time last year.

Metro’s original story is below.

Early Tuesday morning, another hate crime occurred in downtown Manhattan, just days after a man was shot in the head by another man shouting homophobic slurs in the West Village.

Two men were walking up Broadway in SoHo at 5:20 a.m. when two other men started shouting anti-gay slurs at them, police said.

They were reportedly shouting “pato” and “maricon,” Spanish slurs used against black and gay people. They also reportedly called them, in English, “f—ing faggots.”

The shouting developed into a physical confrontation, and the two aggressors punched one of the victims repeatedly in the face, causing swelling and cuts around his right eye.

Police arrested two suspects in the area shortly after. The suspects, Fabian Ortiz, 32, and Pedro Jimenez, 23, are being charged with assault as a hate crime, which is a felony.

While the total number of bias incidents in down by about 29 percent from last year, anti-gay attacks have nearly doubled. There have so far been at least 25 anti-gay incidents, including this SoHo attack, compared to 14 anti-gay incidents by this time last year.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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A man who is accused of physically assaulting two people was accidentally shot by police on Sunday night after the suspect barricaded himself inside of an apartment.

Hassan King, 42, allegedly punched a 22-year-old man and struck a 34-year-old woman at approximately 10:40 p.m. during a dispute inside an apartment at 1380 University Ave. in the Bronx. The victims were taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in stable condition.

After the assault, King barricaded himself inside the apartment, and hostage negotiators tried to convince the suspect to surrender for more than two hours, police said.

When cops finally forced the door open, the lead officer accidentally shot King in the wrist when the door swung back and hit the lead officer. King was transported to St. Barnabas Hospital in stable condition.

He is charged with assault, menacing, harassment and obstructing governmental administration.

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Police are searching for a man who punched an unidentified victim on a Queens-bound 7 train last week.

The suspect punched the passenger about 1 a.m. on May 5 before exiting the train at the 69th Street station, cops said. The man is caught on video as he stands in the middle of the car and swings his arm to punch his victim, who is sitting down.

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  Subway rider punched in Queens

A witness recorded the assault on a cell phone and shared it with the Central Robbery Queens Transit Squad. The victim of the assault did not report the crime. Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect and locating the victim.

The suspect is described as a white or Hispanic male, about 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, with brown eyes and long black hair worn in a ponytail. He was last seen wearing a dark T-shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.

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Cops are searching for four men wanted in connection with an assault and robbery in Bushwick last week.

The suspects approached a male victim in front of 379 Grove St. at approximately 3:30 a.m. on April 20, police said. They physically assaulted him and removed his property. The men fled eastbound on Grove Street and southbound on Wyckoff Street.

The four suspects are being described as Hispanic males. Police released images of the men taken from a surveillance video.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

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Police are searching for a suspect who shot and injured two men in Brooklyn last month.

The victims were walking in the vicinity of Van Buren Street and Throop Avenue in Bed-Stuy about 10:20 p.m. on March 20 when they got into a verbal dispute with a group of unknown males, cops said. The suspect took out a gun and fired it several times. The first victim sustained a gunshot wound to the leg, and the second victim sustained gunshot wounds to the arm and buttocks. Both victims were taken to an area hospital and were listed in stable condition.

Police released a surveillance video that shows the suspect firing shots and then fleeing the scene.

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  VIDEO: Cops seek suspect in Bed-Stuy shooting

The suspect is described as a black male, about 19 or 20 years old, with light skin and long braids.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crimestoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.

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A Queens teenager has been charged in the beating of a 16-year-old girl with a brick, which left her clinging to life in a Queens alley last Tuesday.

Omer Khogali, 17, of East Elmhurst, allegedly hit the girl multiple times in the head with a brick about 10:45 p.m. April 9 near 22-63 43rd Street in Astoria.

The victim, Michelle Rodriguez of Astoria, was in critical condition with severe head injuries at Elmhurst Hospital after the attack.

Khogali was arraigned Sunday morning on charges of attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s office.

He was spotted on surveillance video shortly after the attack. The video shows Khogali dropping an object on the sidewalk as he fled the scene. A brick with blood stains was later recovered from that location.

The criminal complaint also alleges that a witness observed Khogali walking up to several cars and pulling on the door handles shortly before the attack. The witness screamed and he hit the witness with a brick to quiet them.

Khogali faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. He is due back in court April 29.

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A 16-year-old girl is in critical condition after she was assaulted by a man in Queens on Tuesday.

Cops are searching for the suspect, who assaulted the victim in an alley near 22-63 43rd Street in Astoria about 10:45 p.m. The victim and the suspect entered the alley together, but it is not clear if she knew the attacker.

The girl suffered head injuries, police said. She is in critical but stable condition at Elmhurst General Hospital.

The suspect is described as a black male in his mid-20s. He was last seen wearing a dark jacket, a white T-shirt, blue jeans, black sneakers and dark gloves.

Anyone with information in regards to this assault is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crimestoppers website or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then entering TIP577.

The post Queens assault leaves teen girl in critical condition appeared first on Metro.us.

Police are looking for a man who groped a woman and then punched her in the face in Brooklyn in February.

Cops say the suspect approached the 23-year-old victim near Saint Nicholas Avenue and Grove Street in Bushwick on Feb. 20. He forcibly touched the woman and then punched her in the face, police said.

He is being described as 5-foot-9 and was last seen wearing a pea coat, scarf, knit hat and jeans.

Anyone with information in regards to this assault is asked to call the NYPD’s Crimestoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crimestoppers website or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then entering TIP577.

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Police have arrested a 33-year-old Bronx man who is accused of violently attacking and sexually assaulting at least four different women during the past month and a half.

Miguel Lopez is the man police have been searching for since Feb. 24 when he allegedly first attacked a 27-year-old victim as she was walking to the train near 161st Street in the late afternoon. He allegedly grabbed the woman from behind, punched her repeatedly and then sexually assaulted her.

Lopez attacked three other women in the Bronx, mostly in the early morning or late at night. He often punched his victims and sometimes threatened them with a knife or box cutter.

The most recent incident occurred March 31 in Bedford Park. The suspect followed a 40-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man into an apartment building and robbed them at knifepoint. He then continued to follow the female victim, forced his way into her apartment and raped her.

Lopez faces a number of charges, including sexual abuse, rape, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon.

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UPDATE: 21-year-old Brooklyn resident Aidan Folan has been arrested and charged with robbery and assault, police report.

UPDATE: A law enforcement source told Metro that police have a suspect in custody right now. Charges are pending identification in a lineup by the victim.

Metro’s original story is below.

Cops are searching for a man who brutally attacked a 56-year-old woman and robbed her inside a Brooklyn subway station last month. 

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  Woman attacked, robbed inside Brooklyn subway station

The woman exited a southbound F train at the 18th Avenue station in Borough Park at approximately 2:40 a.m. on March 9, police said. The suspect is seen on surveillance video following the victim down a flight of stairs and then attacking her. He repeatedly punches her and throws her to the ground. When the woman tries to get away, the suspect gets violent with her again. He finally empties the victim’s purse, removes some items and then takes off.

The man is described as white or Hispanic, in his 20s and weighing about 150 lbs. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweater with “Alpha Phi Delta” on the front and the word “Stugotz” above the number 27 on the back.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto Crime Stoppers’ website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter TIP577.

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A psychiatric patient at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn was beaten to death Tuesday night, and another patient in the ward has been arrested for the killing, according to police.

Spence Andrews, 20, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Conrad Delimar, 47.

Police responded to a call Tuesday about the assault just before 10 p.m. at the hospital, where they discovered Delimar unconscious and unresponsive. He had blunt force trauma to his torso and head, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Andrews and Delimar had sat down for a game of dominoes shortly before the incident, according to hospital surveillance videos, The New York Times reported.

Delimar then headed to the shower room where his body was found. It is not clear how Andrews got in and out of the locked shower room. Hospital policy only allows one patient in the room at a time, the Times reports.

A spokesman for the hospital said a staff member who was stationed outside of the room did not hear anything. Delimar’s body was discovered only when it was noticed that he was in there for a long time.

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Police are looking for a woman who threatened, assaulted and robbed a livery cab driver in the Bronx on Sunday night.

The suspect got into the cab at 145th Street and Third Avenue at around 11 p.m. The cab driver, 28, took the suspect to 10 Richman Plaza in the Morris Heights neighborhood of the Bronx. The woman then threatened the driver, assaulted him and fled with an unknown amount of money.

Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.

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Police are investigating after a man attacked a woman who was walking in Battery Park just after midnight on Thursday.

The woman, 40, was walking in the park near the Bowling Green subway station when she was grabbed from behind and held in a choke hold, according to sources. The man grabbed at her pants, but the victim was able to fight off her attacker. She was not seriously injured.

The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his early 20s.

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A Bronx man who was caught on surveillance video as he assaulted a man and his 6-year-old daughter at a laundromat has been arrested.

Fernando Gonzalez, 27, entered the laundromat at 4825 White Plains Rd. Saturday evening and assaulted a man and his young daughter and then sprayed them with mace.

Gonzalez surrendered to police on Monday night, the New York Post reported. He has been charged with assault.

The video reveals Gonzalez entering the laundromat and then throwing numerous punches before spraying the 47-year-old victim and his daughter with mace.

The victims did not know the attacker, but the Post reports that the victim and the suspect’s girlfriend had gotten into an argument earlier over a prepaid card needed to use the washers and dryers. The girlfriend called the suspect, who later showed up and attacked the victim.

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Having consented to being searched, Enrique Santiago, 49, stood by as police pulled out over 500 rounds of ammunition, a .45-caliber Colt semi-automatic handgun and three assault rifles, including two with bayonets attached.

Santiago resides on St. Pauls Place near 3rd Avenue. The day earlier, two illegal guns were discovered just a few blocks away in a teenager’s bedroom closet.

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Taylor Murphy, 29, is on trial for charges that he violently attacked his girlfriend, Claudia Charriez, a transgender model known for her appearance as a contestant on “American’s Next Top Model.”

Murphy, who appeared as “Mr. March” in a calender featuring FDNY firefighters, is accused of pulling Charriez’s hair, shoving her into a phone booth and choking her outside a Midtown strip club on the night of Aug. 6, 2011. He’s also accused of kicking, punching, and biting her inside a hotel room.

Opening statements in the trial began Thursday.

Murphy, whose Model Mayhem profile lists him as 6’4 and 220 pounds, continues to pursue a career in modeling after his appearance in the 2011 NYC Firefighters Calendar, the unofficial calender of the FDNY.

Charriez was disqualified in the semifinal round of “ANTM” in 2006 after it was revealed that she was born a man.

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Lohan and the 28-year-old unidentified woman had some sort of a dispute inside the club Avenue in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood around 4 a.m., police said.

Lohan, who has faced a series of legal and financial troubles in recent years, punched the woman in the face multiple times, said New York Police Sergeant John Buthorn, adding that the victim sustained “minor, minor injuries.”

Lohan was arrested on a third-degree misdemeanor assault charge, police said.

She was released from police custody later on Thursday morning. Wearing a green, knee-length dress, black tights and high heels, Lohan was hustled from NYPD’s 10th Precinct House with a personal security guard’s blazer draped over her head and into a waiting SUV, which quickly drove away.

She will have to return to court at a later date to face the charge, police said. Calls and an email to her publicist were not immediately returned.

The arrest came during an already rough week for Lohan, whose latest performance as Hollywood screen legend Elizabeth Taylor in the TV movie “Liz & Dick” was panned by critics. Cable TV channel Lifetime said on Monday that a modest 3.5 million Americans watched the film that premiered last weekend.

Earlier this month she canceled an in-depth interview with ABC’s Barbara Walters, who said she suspected the actress’ publicity team pulled the plug knowing Walters would ask tough questions.

Lohan’s recent visits to New York have been peppered with run-ins with police and public spats.

Last month police were called to the Long Island home of Lohan’s mother, Dina Lohan, where she and her mother had become involved in a loud, early-morning argument. Nassau County Police left the scene without making any arrests.

In September Lohan was arrested in Manhattan after a pedestrian told police that her Porsche had struck him in an alley.

She was initially charged with leaving the scene of an accident, a misdemeanor, but a late-October court date was canceled and another date was not scheduled, an indication prosecutors decided not to proceed with that case.

Also in September, she scuffled with a man at a New York hotel over what media reports described as her demand that photographs he had taken of her be deleted from his cellphone.

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George St. Louis, a sergeant with the NYPD, was arrested just after 10:30 p.m. while he was off-duty. He was charged with unlawful imprisonment, assault, and criminal obstruction of breathing.

The NYPD did not release any other details about his arrest.

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The incident stemmed from an argument between Adams and a taxi driver who both called the police at the same time, according to Gothamist.

“He realized that I called 911 to make a truthful complaint about him, and in return, he called 911 and falsely reported that I had a gun and threatened to kill him,” Adams said in 2006.

Adams said she expected the police to help her once they had arrive but instead she claims she was assaulted by the NYPD. Sergeant John Rajan admitted in court he made a “controlled drop to the ground” to subdue Adams because he didn’t know if she had a firearm.

“I was praying for justice and waited six years to speak my truth in court and I’m very grateful for the closure and the healing,” said Adams, according to DNAinfo.

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The suspect, nicknamed by residents as “the Laurelton rapist,” strikes in the Queens Village, Laurelton and Springfield Gardens neighborhoods.?He targets women walking alone at night.

His most recent attack was Sunday, Oct. 16. He followed a 24-year-old woman walking on Conduit Avenue at about 7 p.m. and then hit her in the back of the head, police said, causing her to fall to the ground. He then sexually assaulted her.

The attacks began on Sept. 22, officials said. That night, just after 1 a.m., he followed a 44-year-old woman as she entered her home in Queens Village, and then he grabbed and sexually assaulted her.
A few weeks later, on Oct. 7, he struck again. He grabbed and sexually assaulted a woman as she entered her Queens Village apartment building.

Two days later, at 1 a.m. on Oct. 9, police say the same man approached a woman on 145th Road. He pushed her to the ground, said cops, punched her several times in the face and tried to rape her. He fled the scene after a neighbor heard his victim’s cries for help.

Then, just days later, he struck again, said police, sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman walking alone on 226th Street at South Conduit Avenue.

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Cops arrested Queens resident Joshua Flecha, 32, on Monday morning on Greenwood Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets, after officers in a passing police cruiser suspected that he was trying to break into a car.

When police pulled over and asked Flecha to put his hands up, they found he was holding his cell phone, which was playing a pornographic video. He also had his pants unzipped, police said.

He was also allegedly carrying marijuana.

Police thought Flecha resembled one of the men suspected in the string of assaults. A woman, 37, picked him out of a lineup as the man who grabbed her on May 7 as she swiped her Metrocard at the Seventh Avenue station in Park Slope. Cops said he grabbed her breasts, exposed himself and masturbated.

An NYPD spokesman said charges were pending against him for the May 7 assault, and police set up lineups with other victims, which could take some time, with the number of attacks now up to 20.

Cops say Flecha is one of four suspected men accused of the attacks in Sunset Park, Park Slope and Windsor Terrace. Last week, Adolfo Martinez, 26, was arrested and charged with groping, as well.

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @AlisonatMetro.

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Adolfo Martinez, 26, was arrested Tuesday night at around 9 p.m. at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn. Police reportedly took him in after matching him to surveillance video footage.

Cops say Martinez attacked a woman, 18, after she left a Sunset Park subway station Monday night. He was charged with forcible touching and sexual abuse.

He reportedly confessed to the crime, and yesterday, police set up lineups with other victims.

Investigators think Monday’s assault might be part of a larger pattern, where as many as 13 women since March have been attacked while walking home alone at night.

Most of the victims have been groped by a man, who then flees when they scream, but one of the women was raped in June, said police.

Police cautioned that they cannot be sure Martinez was behind every incident, as they suspect multiple men in the attacks. They released a new suspect sketch Tuesday.

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @AlisonatMetro.
 

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The deputy inspectors of two Brooklyn precincts met with members of two women’s advocacy groups — Safe Slope and Hollaback! — on Thursday. Park Slope Councilman Brad Lander convened the meeting after 6,000 people signed a petition criticizing cops.

Multiple women reported officers critiquing how they dressed, telling them not to wear skirts or short shorts because a rapist is on the loose, according to Safe Slope organizers.

One South Slope resident, Mallory Rials, told Metro that a cop stopped her two weeks ago  on her way to the gym and told her she “should be wearing long pants” instead of running shorts.
“I told him that I couldn’t change the way I live my life just because of some creep,” she said.

At Thursday’s meeting, police officers promised to remind cops never to critique clothing, because it sends the message that a victim could be at fault, according to Emily May of Hollaback!

Police spokesman Paul Browne disputed accounts of officers condemning clothes.
“Police don’t comment on what women wear,” he said.

Women were attacked two days in a row this week.

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @AlisonatMetro.

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This latest attack happened in Windsor Terrace on Sunday night. A man followed a woman walking down Vanderbilt Street near her mother’s home just before midnight. Then, as she was only steps away from her mom’s house, he suddenly attacked her and groped her breasts. She screamed and he ran off.
Cops — who have released three different sketches — said either one or multiple men are behind the string of attacks that started in March.

So far, the suspect has groped 11 woman and raped one woman in Sunset Park in June, according to police. He has been targeting the area stretching from Greenwood Heights to Park Slope.

Police have not named any suspects, but are warning women to be on alert: The sex predator usually strikes at night and follows women as they walk alone, according to police.

Police beef up presence

Police have increased their presence in Brooklyn, with vans and squad cars on Fifth Avenue. They also showed residents laptop surveillance video of the suspect. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said yesterday that cops are showing the video to prisoners passing through Central Booking to see if anyone recognizes him. 

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @AlisonatMetro.
 

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A man has been targeting women in Park Slope and Sunset Park, dragging them by their necks to the sidewalk and sexually assaulting them. The most recent attack was Sept. 8, when the suspect attacked a 26-year-old woman walking home on 12th Street.

On Tuesday, police released a video of a “person of interest,” a man seen walking down an empty street. The video was taken Sept. 4, the same day the suspect attacked a 24-year-old woman looking for her keys.

Police also added a March attack on 16th Street to the criminal’s crime pattern — meaning the man has been preying on women for at least seven months. He often strikes in the early morning hours and seems to target women walking alone on their way home from the subway.

The NYPD papered subway stops and light poles in Park Slope and Sunset Park with three separate sketches, and an NYPD spokeswoman said it could be one or multiple suspects. The description is of a Hispanic man, about 28.

In response to the assaults, Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez, who represents that part of Brooklyn, organized free self-defense classes. And neighborhood groups have formed patrols to escort women walking home alone — Safe Slope created a Safe Walk program, and Brooklyn Bike Patrol offers a two-wheeled escort.

Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @AlisonatMetro.
 

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A man who stands 4 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs only 120 pounds is wanted for groping up to seven different women in the past six months, police said.

His most recent victim was a 29-year-old woman, who he allegedly attacked Saturday as she entered her apartment building at 5:30 a.m.

The suspect grabbed her and threw her to the ground, reaching under her dress to touch her before fleeing, according to police.

Police say the suspect often approaches women from behind.

Since Jan. 5, the man has been targeting women between the ages of 25 and 31, police said. He singles them out in the late evening and early morning hours, reaches under their dresses and fondles them.

On Saturday, June 11, the suspect approached a woman walking up the stairs, lifted her skirt and spanked her, police said.

The serial groper is said to be a Hispanic man between 25 and 30 years old and has black hair.

Police are offering a $2,000 reward for information that leads to his arrest.

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