By Jeff Lipton
According to 4th Squad detectives, the woman was driving north on Rockaway Turnpike, near Meadowmere Park, on Friday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. when a man whom she had seen several times in the neighborhood flagged her down. The man asked her if she could give him a ride to Inwood, and she agreed, detectives said.
When he entered the front passenger seat, the man pulled out a black handgun and ordered the victim to drive to an area in Brooklyn, where he sexually assaulted her in her vehicle, police said.
The victim was finally released at 6 a.m. the next day when the gunman jumped out of the vehicle. The victim then drove back to Nassau County, where she reported the incident to police.
"Apparently, she knew him from the area, but I can't say that she knew him on a first-name basis," said Detective Sgt. Ronald Nesbitt of the 4th Squad. "We have some subjects that we are looking at. We have a person of interest.
"He just held her in her car at gunpoint," said Nesbitt of the lengthy time period he kept her captive in her car. "[For him] it was sort of like a getting-to-know-you session."
The victim was treated and released at a local hospital, police said. The vehicle was impounded for evidence and the case is being investigated by the 4th Squad in conjunction with the New York City Police Department.
The suspect is described as a 25-year-old black man, about 5 feet 5 inches, 135 pounds, with a slim build and chipped, broken teeth. His hair was arranged in corn rows, he had tattoos on both arms and was wearing dark blue jeans and a black zippered hooded sweatshirt, police said.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS. All calls will remain strictly confidential, police said.
