Samuel Cuspert, 28, of 1523 Fulton Ave. in the Bronx, has been…
By Dustin Brown
An Astoria woman helped cops arrest her accused rapist last week by inviting him back to her apartment on the cell phone he had allegedly stolen from her, the Queens district attorney said.
Samuel Cuspert, 28, of 1523 Fulton Ave. in the Bronx, has been charged with rape, robbery, sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment in the April 25 attack. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Cuspert allegedly raped the woman while pressing a knife against her neck and upper torso in the vestibule of her apartment building near 33rd Avenue and 14th Street, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. He had followed her into the building after approaching her for money on the street, and he ultimately fled with $70 as well as the victim’s cell phone and underwear, Brown said.
When officers responded to the victim’s 911 call, Sgt. Jacob Brown suggested she call her attacker on her cell phone and persuade him to return so they could “pick up where they left off,” Officer Thomas Galanek said.
“Basically she convinced him that she had a good time and she wanted him to come back, which he did,” Galanek said. “She played it up a little bit. She did the best she could.”
As the victim was being treated in a nearby ambulance, police stopped Cuspert when he strolled back toward the apartment sipping a 40-ounce beer. After police discovered the victim’s cell phone and underwear in his pocket, the victim was moved to the back of a police car, where she identified Cuspert and enabled Galanek to make the arrest.
“How may times are you going to get a perp to come back? Very few times,” Galanek said. “It was a shot in the dark that we took, and thankfully it worked out. Hopefully, it’ll help her get over it a little bit.”
Brown praised both the victim and the police for their quick-thinking response to the attack.
“This was a horrible and violent crime for which the defendant deserves to be permanently removed from society,” Brown said. “The victim — along with the police who assisted her — is to be commended for her bravery in persuading the defendant to return to the scene.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at TimesLedgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
