Rapist Robber Nabbed In Queens Spa Attacks, Police Say

QUEENS, NY — A rapist robber behind a spate of attacks on Queens spas is behind bars, police said.

Shabab Usman, 40, was arrested Tuesday after dayslong search for a man who robbed and sexually abused workers at four spas along Jamaica and Liberty avenues, authorities said.

He faces a long list of charges, including attempted murder, rape and robbery, NYPD officials said.

The attacks began late Nov. 26 when two men — Usman and an as-yet-unidentified accomplice, police said — barged into a Jamaica Avenue spa near 185th Street and demanded cash from men and women inside, authorities said. The robbers ran off with roughly $5,o00 and three cell phones, officials said.

The next two attacks unfolded in less than an hour in two spas respectively on Liberty Avenue and Jamaica Avenue, police said.

A man struck a 57-year-old woman in a face with a gun and ran off with $700 and her phone in the first spa, authorities said. He then turned up at the second, where he sexually assaulted a woman, 45, after she said she had no cash or property to steal, police said.

The robber then fired a single gunshot that struck a 52-year-old man in the stomach, officials said. Medics rushed the gunshot victim to a local hospital in critical condition, police said.

The final attack unfolded Monday when the robber walked into a Jamaica Avenue spa near 113th Street, drew a gun on a woman and demanded he take him to a private room, officials said. He held a gun against her and sexually assaulted her inside the room, before running off with $190 from her and two other women, police said.