A man followed a 16-year-old girl into the elevator of her Soundview apartment building and grabbed her buttocks over her clothing before fleeing on foot, according to police, who are now offering a cash reward for information leading to an arrest. The incident happened Friday, July 10, around 8:20 p.m. near Story Avenue and Taylor Avenue, inside the confines of the NYPD's 43rd Precinct in the Bronx.
According to NYPD Crime Stoppers, the unidentified man followed the teen from the street into her residential building and entered the elevator with her before groping her. He then fled on foot to parts unknown, and no suspect has been publicly identified or arrested more than a month after the incident.
Where the Alleged Attack Happened
The intersection of Story Avenue and Taylor Avenue sits less than a half-mile from the 43rd Precinct's station house at 900 Fteley Avenue, according to the NYPD, which oversees Soundview, Parkchester, Castle Hill, and Clason Point in the southeast Bronx. The proximity underscores how close the reported attack occurred to the precinct tasked with investigating it.
Under New York Penal Law § 130.52, the alleged conduct described by police — squeezing or grabbing an intimate body part over clothing without consent — meets the statutory definition of forcible touching, according to Justia Law. The offense is charged as a Class A misdemeanor, carrying a potential sentence of up to one year in jail or six years of probation upon conviction.
Victim's Age Raises the Legal Stakes
Because the victim was 16 at the time, any eventual conviction would carry consequences beyond jail time. Under the New York Sex Offender Registration Act, a forcible touching conviction mandates sex offender registration when the victim is under 18, per the 1800NYNYLaw firm's summary of the statute.
New York criminal procedure rules also give investigators more time in cases involving minors. The statute of limitations for prosecuting forcible touching of a victim under 18 does not begin to run until that victim turns 18 or the crime is reported to law enforcement, according to Lebedin Kofman LLP. No suspect has been named, and the descriptions circulated by police remain unproven allegations pending any arrest.
How the Tip Reward Works
NYPD Crime Stoppers is offering up to $3,500 for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the case, and is asking anyone with knowledge of the incident to come forward. Tips can be submitted at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, by phone at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), in Spanish at 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), or through the @NYPDTips account on X.
The reward program is administered and funded by the nonprofit New York City Police Foundation through private donations rather than police department funds, according to the New York City Police Foundation. Tipsters are assigned unique code numbers rather than having their phone numbers or IP addresses tracked, a safeguard meant to preserve anonymity. Established in 1983, the foundation's Crime Stoppers program has approved more than $3.4 million in cash payouts and helped solve over 5,600 violent crimes citywide.
A Mixed Public Safety Picture in the 43rd Precinct
The alleged attack lands amid a complicated crime backdrop in the surrounding precinct. NYPD CompStat data from mid-2026 showed the 43rd Precinct posted the largest absolute reduction in overall major crime anywhere in the Bronx, recording 368 fewer major incidents compared to the same period in 2025, per Vital City.
That overall decline stands in contrast to a separate trend in sex crime reporting. Reporting from late 2025 found a 71% increase in reported rapes within the 43rd Precinct compared to the same period in 2024, mirroring elevated sex crime reporting seen across the Bronx more broadly, according to News 12 Bronx.
This case is one of several forcible touching alerts NYPD Crime Stoppers has circulated across the Bronx throughout 2026, relying on surveillance stills and public tips to track down suspects in residential buildings, transit stops, and streets. Hoodline has previously reported on similar cases, including a subway platform butt-grab in June and a bike-riding groper near Boston Road in July. As with those cases, the suspect in the Story Avenue incident remains unidentified, and anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
