7-Year-Old Girl Groped at Williamsburg Grocery: NYPD (Updated)

UPDATE: On May 5, the NYPD announced that Williamsburg resident Pasquale Vittiburga, 53, was arrested for allegedly molesting the 7-year-old girl. He has been charged with sex abuse, forcible touching and acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17.

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — Cops are hunting for a man (pictured above) who allegedly groped a 7-year-old girl in a small Williamsburg grocery store on May 2nd.

At around 5:30 p.m. that evening, the girl was in the Southside Food Plaza, located at 428 Bedford Ave. near the neighborhood's Orthodox Jewish section, when the man grabbed her buttocks and fled, according to police.

The girl's father reported the disturbing incident to police on May 3.

Reached by phone Wednesday, a store manager who declined to give his name said he was working in the store when the little girl was groped, but that he was unaware of it at the time.

He said police obtained their photo of the suspect from his surveillance camera system.

Detectives described the suspect as a middle-aged white man, approximately 45 years old, who around 5-feet-8-inches tall and has short white hair. The man has a tattoo made up of small dots on his hand, police said, and may have additional tattooing under his right eye.

He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a baseball hat with a black brim and blue jeans, police said.

Anyone with information on the suspect or the crime can confidentially report it on 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.

This alleged crime took place in the NYPD's 90th Precinct. According to police statistics, through April 24, major crimes in the 90th were collectively down nearly 2 percent compared to the same time period last year.