Man forces woman, 21, into Upper West Side stairwell before raping her – as cops hunt for attacker

A fugitive suspect allegedly raped a 21-year-old woman in the stairwell of her New York City apartment building and threatened to kill her if she did not comply.

Police are now on the hunt for the unidentified perpetrator, who was captured on security camera shortly after the attack, which occurred shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

According to investigators, the man followed the young woman to her building, located near West 65th Street and West End Avenue, and to the elevator.

At the time, the suspect, a black male described as 5’8″, approximately 150 pounds and believed to be in his 30s, he forced the woman out of the elevator and into the stairwell, where he carried out the rape.

Allegedly threatening his life throughout the altercation, the stranger allegedly forced his victim out of the building and onto the rain-soaked street, before fleeing the scene in an unknown direction.

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Police are now on the hunt for the unidentified perpetrator, who was caught on security camera shortly after the attack, which happened just after 1 a.m. Saturday.

“Police were informed that on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at approximately 1:20 a.m., an unknown male followed a 21-year-old female into a building in the vicinity of West End Avenue and West 65th Street.” New York police said Sunday morning.

‘Once inside, the individual followed the victim to an elevator and then forced her out of the elevator and onto a staircase where he raped her.

“The individual then forced the victim out of the building and fled the scene,” police added, revealing that the victim was taken to an area hospital. The extent of the woman’s injuries, as well as her identity, were not reported until 11:30 a.m.

Surveillance video captured outside the woman’s residence, as well as inside the stairwell itself, showed the alleged attacker directly after the attack.

Now distributed to citizens of all five boroughs, a snippet shows the suspect removing his jacket despite copious rain seen that night, throwing it over a fence before driving away.

It’s not immediately clear where exactly the short video was captured, though police confirmed it was near the woman’s residence in the affluent neighborhood.

Surveillance video captured outside the woman’s residence shows the alleged attacker directly after the attack.

The recording shows that the thin, dark-skinned man was wearing a black jacket – with him off the hook – as well as a gray sweatshirt and black pants.

Another photo released by police, taken in the stairwell where the woman went through her ordeal, showed the alleged attacker’s face, wrapped in his hood as he presumably ran away.

Both recordings show that the thin, dark-skinned man was wearing a black jacket – with him off the hook – as well as a gray sweatshirt and black pants. Cops Sunday said the woman did not see which way the man fled.

Authorities are now asking New Yorkers to be on the lookout for the shooter and to contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers task force with any information relevant to the case.

The incident is the latest in a series of breaches plaguing the Big Apple, with the largely residential Upper West Side, in particular, emerging as a hotbed for such attacks.

In January, 74-year-old Maria Hernandez, who lived in a one-bedroom apartment on West 83rd Street, was raped and killed by a man who broke into her home.

Police said they found the elderly woman’s home ransacked after receiving a call from her sister who found the body of Hernandez, who had bruises on the face, arms and back.

Cops Sunday said the woman did not see which way the man fled

The video, now being distributed to citizens in all five boroughs, shows the man removing his jacket despite torrential rain that night, tossing it over a fence before walking away.

Soon after, police determined that she had been strangled to death and that there were signs of serious sexual abuse. Less than a week later, police officers handcuffed Lashawn Mackey, 47, and Terrence Moore, 53, for the crime.

Mackey, a deputy maintenance man at the building, and Moore, a Brooklyn man with prior convictions for second-degree murder and robbery, have pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, aggravated sexual assault and robbery.

Then, in November, not far from the scene of the recent rape, another woman was nearly sexually assaulted around 5:15 p.m. in the arrest of the suspect.

The 25-year-old suspect was later identified as Christopher Cedeno, a resident of a nearby supportive housing center for previously homeless veterans. The officers added at the time that the suspect was known to the police and had been arrested before.

The incident is the latest in a series of breaches plaguing the Big Apple, with the largely residential Upper West Side, in particular, emerging as a hotbed for such attacks.

Similarly, that same month, a 43-year-old woman was raped, suffocated, and assaulted while jogging around 5:30 a.m. on Pier 45.

The suspect grabbed her from behind and choked her until she passed out, police said.

Cops later arrested a 29-year-old homeless man after he used stolen credit cards at a Target in Midtown. He has since been charged with rape and assault.