Attacker Of Women Convicted

A man accused of armed attacks against nine women from Forest Hills, Flushing, Sunnyside and Woodside has been convicted.
Darryl Gray, 43, of 55 Lasalle Street in Manhattan, was found guilty Monday, June 23, of multiple counts of first degree robbery for the attacks that occurred between December 2000 and January 2001. Eight of the nine women identified Gray in court as the attacker, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
"The defendant is a dangerous predator who preyed upon women who were returning home from work," Brown said. His victims, ages 25 to 52, were attorneys, a physician, a secretary and an administrative aide.
Most of the attacks occurred between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Gray followed his victims from the subway as they were returning home from work and confronted them in the lobbies of their apartment buildings. He stole personal jewelry and cash in amounts ranging from $40 to $400 from each.
Gray had been released from prison only two months before after serving 14 years on robbery and sexual assault charges for similar attacks on six women in Manhattan between 1986 and 1987.
Brown said that Gray was apprehended in Queens by police only minutes after his last crime. Officers responded to a 911 call from a 41-year-old receptionist for a dentist in Manhattan. She had just entered the lobby of her Flushing apartment building at about 7 p.m. on January 4, 2001, when she was tackled from behind. Her assailant held a knife to her throat and demanded her jewelry and money before fleeing on foot.
Police raced to the nearby 52nd Street No. 7 train stop in Woodside where they ordered the operator to hold the train. They found Gray seated in the middle car and placed him under arrest.
His victims described their attacker as a heavyset man, well over six feet tall and wearing a green waist-length jacket. Gray was wearing a green jacket when he was taken into custody and was carrying $200 in cash, his latest victims wedding ring and jewelry clip and a steak knife with a five-inch blade.
A jury of nine men and three women deliberated nine hours over three days before returning a guilty verdict. Gray appeared before Queens Supreme Court Justice William Donnino who ordered him held without bail until sentencing on July 23.
He faces up to 200 years in prison.