'Don't be scared,
I work with police ...'
BY ALISON GENDAR, RICH SCHAPIRO and TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006
He flashed a badge and claimed to be a cop - but an 11-year-old Brooklyn girl saw through the serial pervert's sick ruse and ran as fast as she could when he tried to lure her into his car.
"I thought he was going to take me," the yeshiva student told the Daily News yesterday as a police manhunt for the hairy-armed fiend intensified.
The sweet-faced girl helped the NYPD create a sketch of the sicko who has fondled two girls and tried to abduct other unsuspecting kids off the streets in Brooklyn and Queens.
Clutching her mother's hand, the 11-year-old told The News that she was so traumatized by her encounter with the creep that she's still afraid to play outside her Borough Park home.
"I don't want to go out alone because I'm scared," she said.
The man - described as heavy-framed, olive-skinned and aged 20 to 25 - has been linked to three abduction attempts in Brooklyn and one in Queens in April. Police are investigating whether he struck again in Borough Park on Monday.
His spree began April 11, when he approached the 11-year-old and her little brother on 11th Ave. in a dark Jeep, asking for directions.
"You don't have to be scared of me. I work with the police," the would-be molester told her. "You can come into my car and show me the way."
He flashed a business card with a photo of a badge on it, urged the girl's brother to go back home - and even followed her around the corner after she nervously walked away.
That's when she began to fear he might kidnap her - and she and her brother made a fast break.
"I got scared and I ran home," said the girl, whose name is being withheld by The News.
Two weeks later, the same predator was at it again, molesting a 15-year-old in Elmhurst, Queens, police said.
Then he brazenly targeted two 10-year-old Borough Park girls within an hour three days later. One of them simply walked away, but the second got in the front seat, where the suspect exposed himself and fondled her as she wept.
"Our victims are young and obviously upset. I'm very happy with them that they had the fortitude that we were able to get the sketch out. They are very brave girls," said Deputy Police Inspector Ann Marie Connell, commanding officer of the NYPD special victims division.
"In every case, he has come up and asked for directions and as [the victim] approached, he identified himself as a police officer in an effort apparently to gain some type of trust," Connell said.
Police questioned a man Monday night after a group of girls reported that a motorist had tried to entice them into his car with the promise of a lollipop. But the unidentified suspect was released without any charges.
"We don't believe he has anything to do with these crimes," Connell said.
Detectives were not sure whether the lollipop incident is related to the sickening pattern, but it sent another shiver of fear through a normally safe neighborhood.
"Everyone must understand - there are maniacs out there," said the frightened mother of a 6-year-old girl who was in the group approached Monday. "You really need to watch your kids."
With Tony Sclafani
Trail of a sicko
The NYPD has linked four sex abuse incidents to a man who impersonates a police officer and drives a dark car:
* April 11, 6 p.m. - The suspect approaches an 11-year-old girl on 11th Ave. in Borough Park, Brooklyn, shows her a business card with a badge emblem, says he's a cop and asks her to get in. She runs away.
* April 25, 7:15 a.m. - A 15-year-old girl is lured into a dark livery cab-type vehicle in Elmhurst, Queens, by a man who says he has to search her. He then fondles her.
* April 28, 1:45 p.m. - A driver flashes a silver badge at a 10-year-old girl and tries to lure her into a car on 15th Ave. in Borough Park. She walks away and he drives off.
* April 28, 2:35 p.m. - Using a silver shield, assailant persuades a 10-year-old girl on 15th Ave. in Borough Park to get into his car. He exposes himself and touches her before dropping her back at the pickup spot.
Cops are investigating whether this incident is part of the pattern: May 1, 7 p.m. — A man in a light-colored car approaches several girls in Borough Park and says he will give a lollipop to whoever gets inside his car. The girls run away.
I have seen on Friday night a unmarked impala drivig thru BP and stopping at every SUV and someone come out of the car and look thru the window with a flashlight.
http://vosizneias.blogspot.com/2006/04/borough-park-brooklyn-ny-police-search.html