By Bill Parry
Police were looking for a man who followed a 39-year-old woman into her Jackson Heights apartment building, in the vicinity of 76th Street and 35th Avenue, and threatened her with a knife early Monday morning.
The suspect grabbed the victim from behind as she entered the building’s vestibule, showed her the knife and tried to take her purse at 2 a.m., according to police. The woman fought back as he tried to rip the purse from her grasp. The victim managed to pull the man out to the front of the building where she screamed for help, police said.
When a good Samaritan came to her aid, the suspect fled the scene empty-handed, southbound on 76th Street. The victim suffered a small laceration to her left hand and was treated at the scene by EMS.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic man in hi 50s, 5-foot-8 and weighing 200 pounds. He was caught on surveillance camera wearing a black-and-white knitted cap, a dark-colored coat, black jeans, white sneakers and carrying a black backpack.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
