Accused Greenwich Village Sex Attacker Strikes Again: Police

WEST VILLAGE, NY — A man wanted for more than five months for a Greenwich Village sex attack has been tied to a second assault in Lower Manhattan, police said Monday.

Carl Phanor, 28, has been linked to the attack of a 48-year-old woman near the FDR Drive service road and East 37th Street about 5 a.m on Oct. 6, police said.

The 48-year-old suddenly found herself in a chokehold, fighting a man trying to sexually assault her, police said.

The woman was able to fight the attacker off, but the man still got away with her wallet and cell phone, before fleeing on a bike, police said.

A half an hour later, the woman's credit card was used to make a purchase at a smoke shop at 113 First Avenue, near East Seventh Street, police said.

NYPD were able to then look through the security footage of the smoke shop, and get a picture of the man, officials said.

Police believe the man was Phanor, the same man wanted for a sex attack in the Greenwich Village at the end of March, according to the NYPD.

Phanor is suspected of attacking a 39-year-old jogger on the Hudson River Greenway near West and Clarkson streets in the early morning of March 27, police said.

The attacker rode his bike near the runner, pushed her to the ground and began to assault her, police contend.

After sexually assaulting the woman, the man snatched her cell phone and fled on his bike, police said.

Despite police giving Phanor's address as a Lower East Side homeless shelter, authorities have not been able to arrest him in the five months since the attack.

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