BY COLIN MIXSON
A homeless man who lived at a Queens shelter faces up to 25 years in prison for brutally raping a woman near the Prospect Park Parade Ground last month, according to Brooklyn’s top prosecutor.
A grand jury charged the defendant, Mowngly Lucas, 28, with a top count of predatory sexual assault on Dec. 20, following his alleged assault of the 59-year-old victim on Nov. 18.
Prosecutors said that Lucas resided at an unidentified Queens shelter at the time of the incident. The NYPD announced his place of residence as 112-36 Roosevelt Ave., which is the location of a Best Western Plus hotel.
According to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, Lucas allegedly put the woman in a chokehold on Parkside Avenue near Parade Place at 5 a.m. before telling her, “I have a knife. I just got out of jail and I don’t care, so follow what I told you.”
Lucas then allegedly pulled down the woman pants and raped her on the sidewalk, before dragging her behind a bench, ordering her onto her hands and knees, and raping her again, law enforcement sources said alleged.
But the attack did not end there, according to Gonzalez. Police said that Lucas allegedly dragged the woman by her neck to a van parked nearby, entered it with her after breaking a window, and raped her for a third time inside the vehicle, before grabbing money from her purse and fleeing.
Police apprehended Lucas with help from an anonymous tip received after they released surveillance footage of him, Gonzalez’s spokeswoman Helen Peterson said.
Supreme Court Justice William Miller ordered Lucas held on $500,000 bail, and he is due back in court on Feb. 19.
