Man Arrested In Knifepoint East Village Sex Attack: Police

EAST VILLAGE, NY — A Lower East Side man was arrested Friday after being accused of following a woman into her Lower Manhattan home and attempting to rape her at knifepoint, police said.

Rohel Figueroa, 30, was charged with attempted rape, robbery, burglary, sexual abuse, and criminal trespassing in connection with the Sept. 4 incident, police said.

The charges come after police say he followed a 53-year-old woman into her apartment within the NYCHA Lillian Wald Houses on the Lower East Side, displayed a knife, and tried to rape her, police said.

Figueroa also took the woman's cell phone and $20 in cash before running out of the apartment, police said.

The woman was hospitalized with unspecified injuries, police said.

NYPD said that Figueroa is a resident of an Essex Street building, roughly a 20-minute walk from the Lillian Wald Houses.