A 32-year-old woman was groped by an unidentified man near Nostrand Avenue and Prospect Place in Crown Heights at around 5 a.m. on Sunday, June 28, 2026, and more than two months later, police still haven't identified him. The NYPD has asked the public for help in the investigation, which remains unresolved more than two months after the incident.
According to NYPD Crime Stoppers, the notice concerns an unidentified individual in the vicinity of the intersection. The notice was issued nearly two months after the incident. It remains unclear from the notice whether the victim and the suspect had any prior contact beyond that early-morning encounter, or whether investigators have recovered surveillance footage from any of the businesses that line the corridor.
A Busy Corridor Even Before Dawn
The stretch of Nostrand Avenue around Prospect Place includes restaurants and a neighborhood business project on Nostrand Avenue, according to the Crown Heights Community Organization. Local civic groups have promoted the stretch between Prospect Place and Dean Street as a community business and cultural corridor. The intersection falls within the 77th Precinct, which serves northern Crown Heights, and the precinct's station house is at 127 Utica Avenue, per DNAinfo.
Under New York Penal Law § 130.52, forcible touching is defined as intentionally and forcibly touching another person's sexual or intimate parts for no legitimate purpose, in order to degrade or abuse them or to gratify sexual desire, according to Wikipedia's summary of the statute. It is classified as a Class A misdemeanor. The law traces back to New York's Sexual Assault Reform Act of 2000, which was enacted specifically to impose stronger penalties on public groping incidents that had previously been charged only under minor 90-day violation statutes, the same source notes.
Conviction Could Mean Sex Offender Registration
If the suspect is caught and convicted, the penalties extend well beyond a brief jail stint. Individuals convicted of forcible touching in New York face up to one year in jail, a probation term of up to three years, although a six-year term may apply in some circumstances, and possible sex-offender registration depending on the circumstances of the case, according to the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates. Such registration, when applicable, is an additional legal consequence of the conviction.
This is far from an isolated concern for the borough. In April 2025, officers from the 77th Precinct arrested a suspect on five counts of forcible touching following a monthlong string of groping attacks across nearby Brooklyn neighborhoods, as reported by the Brooklyn Eagle. More recently, Hoodline covered a Brooklyn case involving the NYPD's Brooklyn Adult Sex Crimes Squad. It's not clear from the current notice whether the 77th Precinct or the borough-wide sex crimes squad is handling this Crown Heights case, or whether investigators view it as connected to any broader pattern.
Public Alert in Crown Heights
NYPD Crime Stoppers has issued a public alert for the Crown Heights case, an alleged groping along a Brooklyn commercial street.
Anyone with information about the Crown Heights case is asked to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or by submitting a tip online. Calls are not recorded, and phone numbers or online tips are not traced, as described in NYPD guidance. The program also offers cash rewards of up to $3,500 for anonymous tips that lead to an arrest and indictment, per the Boro Park 24.
