By Bill Parry
An Astoria man is being hailed as a hero Friday after breaking up what the NYPD is calling an attempted rape.
It was 5:10 a.m. Thursday when Roberto Merendino, of 43-10 34th Ave., awoke to screams coming from across the street.
“I saw this guy had thrown a woman onto the ground and started messing with her,” Merendino recalled Friday afternoon, “I could see she was all scraped up, so I started yelling ‘Get out of here’ mixed in with a bunch of curse words and the guy took off running.”
NYPD sources confirmed the account and said Merendino actually broke up an attempted rape of an unidentified 30-year old woman. They reported that there was no arrest and the investigation was continuing. Merendino said he could give no description of the assailant because it was dark and the attacker wore a hoody.
“I’m no hero, I just tried to stop something from happening,” Merendino said. “I hear she’s from the neighborhood, I don’t think I know her but I’d like to meet her someday.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538
