Same man suspected in attacks on two teens
By STEVE LIEBERMAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: May 26, 2005)
MONSEY — The man who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl after dragging her off a dirt path into the woods behind Pathmark tried to attack a 13-year-old girl the week before, police said yesterday.
Tuesday evening's attack came a week after police said the slightly built man grabbed a girl walking along the same shortcut between the Route 59 shopping center and Brewer Road. She fought off the man, who had grabbed her face from behind, and escaped unharmed about 4 p.m. May 18, police said.
"I think he's a dangerous individual," Ramapo Detective Lt. Brad Weidel said yesterday. "That's why we're pulling out all stops to apprehend him. He's not using a weapon, but he overpowered two young girls."
At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the man grabbed the 15-year-old from behind, his hands covering her mouth and face. Her dragged her about 150 yards to a fence near some power lines. The fence separates the woods from the backyards of houses fronting Brewer Road.
The man then sexually assaulted the girl, and she told police she lost consciousness. Weidel said the girl passed out as a result of fear, because the man tried to strangle her, or both.
When she woke up, the man was gone, and she climbed over the fence, walked to a house and knocked on a door. A resident called the police.
"She had some wounds which would be consistent with being dragged through the woods," Detective Sgt. John Lynch said yesterday, standing along the path with other police investigators.
Police believe the man followed both young girls onto the path, attacking during daylight hours when people regularly use the shortcut.
Police suspect the man possibly rode off on a bicycle from the shopping center's rear parking lot after Tuesday night's attack.
Both girls described him as 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-8, with a thin build and a medium complexion. Both girls told police he wore dark blue clothes, Weidel said.
The first victim said the man wore a blue shirt with a yellow stripe, police said. The second girl said he wore a blue shirt with white stripe, and a baseball cap.
Detectives were working with the first victim on the suspect's deion when the second attack occurred. Neither girl could estimate her attacker's age or weight. The victims are working with Clarkstown Police Officer Michael Mullins to complete a composite sketch of the man.
Weidel said doctors took samples from the 15-year-old victim, who was treated at Good Samaritan Hospital. Police hope the samples will provide the man's DNA, which would be run through a national police computer database to determine if there is a match.
"We're working with two young girls here who are scared," Weidel said.
The attacker spoke to the 15-year-old girl, but Wiedel said they were withholding what he said.
More police officers will patrol the area until an arrest is made. Weidel also said 5,000 area residents yesterday received a computerized telephone call through the Rockland Emergency Services Office telling them of the attacks, asking for information and advising people not to walk alone on the path.
Yesterday and Tuesday night, Ramapo police officers and detectives from the Sheriff's Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation searched for clues in the woods and used a police dog to try to pick up the man's scent. Officers, seeking witnesses, also interviewed people walking along the path.
The path, which is littered with garbage, glass and wooden planks, is about 500 yards long, narrowing between several houses fronting Brewer Road. The parking lot's fence allows people access to the path, a compromise made years ago to stop people from cutting holes in the fence.
"People go down this path day and night and have done so for years," Lynch said. "You can't call any area absolutely safe. But we've never had any problems here before this."
Police said the 15-year-old was walking from the shopping center to Brewer Road when she was attacked Tuesday night. The first victim had entered the path on Brewer Road after walking from the Beth Rochel religious school area a block away on Saddle River Road.
Isaac Rommz, 48, of Monsey yesterday said he used the path every day as a shortcut between Brewer Road and Route 59. He said he tutored children in the Monsey community.
"I never felt unsafe and see a lot of people walking here," Rommz said. "We'll do our best to help those hurt."
To help
Anyone with information on the attacks on the path between Brewer Road and the Pathmark shopping center is asked to call the Ramapo Police Department at 845-357-2400 or the department's toll-free hotline at 888-998-8477.
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