Nail Salon Sex Assaulter Sentenced After East Harlem Attack: DA

HARLEM, NY — A man who sexually assaulted two women in an East Harlem nail salon will serve at least 14 years in prison, prosecutors said.

The sentencing of David Gonzalez, 45, on Wednesday came after the two women bravely took the stand to testify against him, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

They recounted the harrowing events of April 27, 2021, when one of them — a 21-year-old woman — noticed him following her on Lexington Avenue near East 125th Street for several blocks, prosecutors said.

She fearfully ran into a nail salon near East 118th Street, where he followed her inside, authorities said.

"In the span of just two minutes, he attacked her, sexually assaulted another patron, and terrified everyone in that salon," Bragg said in a statement. "Her fellow New Yorkers rallied around her and were able to chase him out of the store."

Gonzalez groped both women before salon workers and patrons chased him out with a broom and called 911, authorities said.

Police arrested him two days later when they spotted him on a train wearing the same clothes from the attack, prosecutors said.