Central Park Rape: Photos Of Suspect Released

CENTRAL PARK, NY – Photos of a suspected rapist who attacked a jogger in Central Park early Thursday have been released by police.

The images show a man police suspect choked the woman until she was unconscious and then raped her near Swan Lake and Center Drive, by the Wollman Rink, shortly before 7:20 a.m.

Another sexual assault happened about 45 minutes later at East 103rd Street and the FDR Drive in East Harlem. Officers arrested a man who had a previous rape conviction, but they haven't been able to link the two attacks.

"We cannot say conclusively that they are related," said NYPD Inspector Michael King.

The man in the Central Park attack was wearing a mask and came up behind his victim before strangling her. He ran off after raping her, King said.

After regaining consciousness, the woman asked another parkgoer for help and they called 911. The woman was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition, police said.

The photos released are surveillance pictures. Two were taken in a subway station and one was on a street.

King asked anyone who was in Central Park at the time to call the Crime Stoppers hotline (1-800-577-TIPS).