Would-Be Rapist Thwarted When Woman Throws Coffee In Face: NYPD

INWOOD, NY — The NYPD is trying to identify an attempted rapist who was thwarted by a cup of hot coffee in Inwood, police said.

A 51-year-old woman was entering an apartment building Thursday morning on Seaman Avenue and Academy Street when an unknown man followed her into the building's entrance, police said. Once inside, the man told the woman to "do as he said" and attempted to pull her pants down, police said.

The woman threw her cup off coffee in the man's face and screamed for help, prompting the attacker to flee the building, police said.

Police described the suspect as a man in his 30s or 40s who stands between 5-foot-10 and 6-feet-tall and weighs about 250 pounds. The man has a beard and mustache and was last seen wearing glasses, a black knit cap, a black and gray hooded jacket, a black sweater, black sweatpants and blue and white sneakers..

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).