Suspect questioned in Harlem rapes

Police are questioning a suspect in four rapes that have taken place in Hamilton Heights since last month, according to City Council member Robert Jackson. But police could not confirm a suspect was in custody, and Jackson urged residents to remain vigilant until the rapist is conclusively identified.

State Assemblyman Keith Wright—a Democrat whose district encompasses much of West and Central Harlem—held a press conference Sunday at which he and other local officials denounced the attacks and called on the community to keep watch for the rapist.

The neighborhood is plastered with fliers containing a police sketch of the attacker based on victims’ descriptions and offering a $12,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Wright said Sunday that he would add $1,000 to that sum from his own pocket, and added that he planned to pursue $100,000 in state funding for additional street lighting in the area.

“This community has been preyed upon by a coward, a criminal, a punk,” Wright said. “We in the Harlem community are saying we won’t have it. We will remain vigilant, and we are pulling together block by block, piece by piece. There is no way this individual can terrorize our Harlem community, my Harlem community, with impunity.”

According to Jackson—a Democrat who represents parts of West Harlem, including Hamilton Heights—police arrested and questioned a suspect shortly before 4 a.m. Saturday. The Daily News reported Sunday that police had obtained a DNA sample from a discarded soda can and would compare it with post-rape samples from the victims.

Wright said he didn’t know if the suspect had been arrested directly in conjunction with the rapes, and added that three out of the four victims were not able to identify him. A New York Police Department spokesperson said Sunday afternoon that she was not aware of any arrests related to the rapes.

Also present at Sunday’s press conference were City Council member Inez Dickens, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, New York Coalition of One Hundred Black Women President Virginia Montague, and several members of the Guardian Angels, an organization that encourages residents to work to protect their own neighborhoods.

“The rape of one woman is a rape of all women. All women have been raped and abused by this perpetrator,” said Dickens, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Central and East Harlem and Morningside Heights.

Montague urged locals to be aware of their surroundings, especially when walking alone.

“I want to remind women that they too must be vigilant in maintaining their own safe environment,” she said.

“We have nothing to be ashamed about as a community,” Stringer said, urging locals to publicize the rapes as much as possible so that more people will be on the lookout for the attacker. “We need your eyes and we need your ears.

“This is an equal opportunity attacker. He wants to go to the person who’s most vulnerable,” Stringer added. “Clearly this individual is hell bent on making another mark.”