NYPD arrests man for attempted daytime rape on NYC subway platform

By Larry Celona, Kevin Sheehan and Tamar Lapin
New York Post

A Bronx man was arrested Sunday for allegedly trying to rape a woman on an Upper East Side subway platform in a disturbing daytime attack that was filmed and ultimately thwarted by fellow New Yorkers, police said.

Jose Reyes, 31, is accused of pouncing on the 25-year-old woman around 11 a.m. Saturday inside the Lexington Avenue and East 63 Street F train station.

“This heinous and horrendous act was interrupted by a good Samaritan who observed Mr. Reyes’ behavior and got him to cease . . . while subsequently videotaping the incident,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison told reporters.

The woman was riding the F train home from work when she encountered Reyes, who was “smoking some type of hookah and started making weird noises and laughing to himself,” Harrison said.

She and the deranged man got off at the station, where he began gesturing “in a masturbation motion toward her” as she tried to move away, according to the top detective.

“Mr. Reyes follows her, which resulted in him assaulting her, punching her, pushing her to the ground, climbing on top of her and attempting to spread her legs,” Harrison said.

Video taken by the witness showed a man — identified by cops as Reyes — thrusting his body on top of the woman as horrified bystanders looked on.

“Hey, get off her!” people yelled, according to cops.

The creep took off after grabbing his sunglasses off the floor and mouthing inaudible words at the crowd, video shows.

Filming the attack and screaming at the sicko “was helpful in scaring him away,” Harrison said.

The woman suffered minor injuries, but refused medical attention, police said.

Police on Sunday released the video in an attempt to identify the would-be rapist.

The NYPD’s facial recognition team allegedly matched the clip to a mugshot of Reyes from a criminal mischief arrest earlier this year.

Three tips to the Crimestoppers hotline led patrol officers with the 23rd Precinct to Lexington Avenue and 105th Street in East Harlem, where Reyes was nabbed around 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

He had narcotics in his possession, Harrison alleged, saying that drugs may have contributed to the attack.

Police said Reyes didn’t know his victim and that he confessed to the attempted rape.

The chief applauded the tipsters as being “very instrumental in apprehending our individual.”

“If there’s any messages going to be taken, it is we need the community’s help, we need the people’s help,” Harrison said.

“In order for us to be successful, in order for us to stop the violence, we have to work together.”

Reyes has at least 14 previous arrests on his record, including three that took place on the subway system, though none were sexual in nature, cops said.

He was charged with attempted rape at his arraignment early Monday, where he was ordered held on $75,000 cash bail.

At the arraignment, Assistant District Attorney John Cheever appeared on Skype and accused Reyes of hitting the victim and knocking her to the floor.

“He randomly attacked a stranger on a subway platform, throwing her to the ground, punching her, trying to keep her legs open,” he said, adding the defendant was seen on top of the victim and she was trying to scream for help.

Reyes’ attorney argued that bail was more appropriate.

“My client has strong community ties, his family and mother live in New York City,” said Rinai Raid, from the Legal Aid Society.

MTA spokeswoman Abbey Collins called the incident “disturbing and disgraceful.”

“No one should ever have to experience this type of horrific attack in the transit,” she said.

New Yorkers at the station where the brazen attack took place were horrified.

“When you hear about things like this happening in broad daylight, you really start to wonder about the fate of the city,” Marcella Rogers, 34, of Flatbush, told The Post on Sunday.

A custodian who works on the platform said such incidents have given her pause about taking the subway.

“My uniform gives me some protection because people look at me like I’m an official, even though I’m not. But to be a woman in New York City these days is not a safe thing to be, even on the Upper East Side,” the worker, who declined to give her name, told The Post.

“There’s just nowhere to hide from all the boogiemen out there. They’re not afraid to come out in the daytime,” she said.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Rosner and Reuven Fenton

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https://nypost.com/2020/08/30/nypd-arrests-man-for-daytime-rape-on-nyc-subway-platform/