A man with a gun approached the women, ages 32 and 34, at about 4:30 a.m. at Archer Avenue and 142nd Street, near…
By Betsy Scheinbart
Two women were carjacked in Jamaica Center, forced to strip naked and left at John F. Kennedy Airport early Saturday morning, police said.
A man with a gun approached the women, ages 32 and 34, at about 4:30 a.m. at Archer Avenue and 142nd Street, near Jamaica Avenue, shortly after the two had left the nearby Amazura Club at 91-11 144th Place, said Sgt. James Foley, a police spokesman.
As one of the women drove the 2000 Ford Explorer toward the airport, the gunman forced the passenger to take off her clothing. When they arrived at the airport, he forced the other woman to strip at well, police said.
The women were not sexually assaulted, but they were robbed of their jewelry, cash, credit cards, and cell phones, Foley said.
A United Parcel Service truck driver happened to be at the airport when the trio arrived, and that apparently startled the carjacker, Foley said.
The gunman took off with the maroon sport utility vehicle, leaving the naked women behind, Foley said.
The victims described the carjacker as a black man 5 feet, 10 inches tall, average weight, and about 30 years old, Foley said. Police were investigating.
The car was last seen bearing New York plates P88-1LJ, police said, and at press time it was still missing. Anyone with information is asked to call, anonymously, 1-800-577-TIPS.
The carjacking occurred as at least two women were raped in Queens over the weekend, police said. Both incidents were still under investigation.
In Richmond Hill, a 28-year-old woman was raped when four men pulled her into their red sedan at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, said Detective Eugene Canapi, a Police Department spokesman.
The victim was dropped at the corner of 130th Street and 90th Avenue in Richmond Hill, Canapi said.
At about 1:30 a.m. Monday, a woman walking on Morgan Avenue, just across the border in Brooklyn was forced into a car by a man, said Detective Madelyne Galindo, a spokeswoman for the police department.
The man drove the victim to the corner of Metropolitan and Woodward avenues in Ridgewood and raped her, Galindo said. The rapist then drove the woman back to Brooklyn.
The number of rapes in the two precincts covering Jamaica went down in the first three months of 2001, according to crime statistics released by the NYPD.
In the 103rd precinct, which covers Jamaica and Hollis, there were nine rapes reported from Jan. 1 to April 1, 2001, 10 percent less than the 10 rapes reported in the first three months last year, said Cadet John Buthorn, a police spokesman.
Eight rapes were reported in the 113th precinct, covering South Jamaica, St. Albans, parts of Springfield Gardens and Rochdale Village, Buthorn said. This was 20 percent less than last year’s 10 reported rapes.
Reach reporter Betsy Scheinbart by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300 Ext. 138.
