By Ivan Pereira
City Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton) is hosting an emergency meeting Wednesday in light of the pair of sexual attacks that have taken place in southeast Queens over the last week.
The elected official has invited community groups and members of the 105th Precinct to the 7:30 p.m. meeting at Springfield Assembly Church of Apostolic Faith, at 230-41 Edgewood Ave. to help inform the public about the attacks and instruct them how they can keep themselves safe while the authorities hunt the suspects.
The church is located not too far from where a 20-year-old woman fought off a man who tried to sexually assault her while she was walking home from a bus stop near South Conduit and Edgewood Avenues Sunday night.
“I have absolutely zero tolerance for sexual assault in my district or anywhere else, and very, very little sympathy for these pervert rapists once they’re caught. Our community will simply neither tolerate nor abide these animals on our streets, and we will come together as one to make sure that every woman in our district is safe,” he said in a statement.
The Brookville assault took place three days after a man, who was still wanted by the police as of press time Tuesday night, raped another woman in Jamaica, according to authorities. The victim in the Oct. 13 incident was walking near 108th Drive and Merrick Boulevard around 2 a.m. when a man approached her with a box cutter, took her to a secluded area and raped her, police said.
The authorities described the suspect as a black man, 20 to 23 years old, 5-foot-5 and approximately 180 pounds. He had a Caesar-style haircut and was wearing a black bandana, black waist length leather jacket and dark jeans, according to the police.
The fugitive wanted in the Brookville incident was described as a black man between 20 and 25 years old and was seen wearing a black jacket and blue hooded sweatshirt, according to investigators.
The Guardian Angels began patrolling the streets in Laurelton Tuesday and will remain in the area for the time being, according to the group’s president, Curtis Sliwa.
Sanders is calling on anyone with information regarding the sex assaults to call the police and urged the suspects themselves to turn themselves in.
“Any man who puts his hands on a woman for any reason other to protect her or himself is a coward of the lowest order, and someone I have absolutely no use for,” he said.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crimestoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), text their tips to 274637 (crimes) then enter TIP577 or log on to nypdcrimestoppers.com. All reports will be kept confidential.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
