3rd Rape Attempt Reported Near Prospect Park Since April

• Pictured: The suspect. Photos courtesy of the NYPD

PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN — Another ugly sexual attack was reported in the immediate vicinity of Prospect Park Wednesday afternoon, according to the NYPD — the third attempted rape reported near Brooklyn's largest green space over the last five weeks.

Around 2:40 p.m. on May 25, a man believed to be about 20 years old man grabbed a 24-year-old woman by the hand and pulled her into the park near the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Washington Avenue, in the area where Prospect Heights meets Crown Heights.

The man groped the woman, pushed her against a tree and exposed himself, according to the NYPD, before she was able to flee. The woman was not injured in the attack, police said.

Detectives described the suspect as a black male with black eyes and short black hair, standing about 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds.

The suspect was last seen wearing gray jeans, a blue shirt or jacket and white sneakers, police said.

Anyone with information on the suspect or the attack can confidentially report it via the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers website or anonymously call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Los hispanohablantes pueden llamar 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Tips can also be text-messaged to the NYPD by texting 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577.

Previously, in the wee hours of May 22, an unidentified man attempted to sexually assault a 21-year-old woman who had just exited the subway was walking along 2nd Street between 7th and 8th avenues, police said.

The young woman was able to fight off her attacker, police said, and the man fled in a van.

Before that, on April 20, a 23-year-old woman who was jogging just after 5 a.m. inside the park near Park Slope, in the vicinity Garfield Place and Prospect Park West, was attacked by a man who also attempted to rape her, according to the NYPD. That woman fought off her attacker as well, and the man fled, police said — but not before cutting her on the finger with a knife.

Despite these three recent attacks, Prospect Park remains statistically safe. It is patrolled by the NYPD's 78th Precinct, where through May 15, major crimes were collectively down almost 20 percent compared to the same time period last year, according to official police records.

A total of three rapes were reported in the precinct through May 15, compared to fourduring that period in 2015. However, those numbers do not necessarily include unsuccessful rape attempts.

Editor's Note: This post has been updated for geographical clarity.