A man approached a 31-year-old woman from behind outside 445 Albee Square in Downtown Brooklyn on the afternoon of Saturday, August 8, grabbed her buttocks, and ran off westbound on Fulton Street, according to police. More than a month later, he still hasn't been identified, and investigators are now asking the public for help tracking him down.
The incident happened at approximately 1:11 p.m. within the confines of the 84th Precinct, according to a bulletin from NYPD Crime Stoppers
. The unidentified man approached the victim without warning, grabbed her, and then fled the scene on foot, per the same alert. NYPD Crime Stoppers is offering up to $3,500 for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the case.
The location sits at the heart of City Point Brooklyn, a mixed-use complex with more than 600,000 square feet of commercial space that includes DeKalb Market Hall and major retail entrances along Fulton Street, according to background compiled by Wikipedia. The address also sits along the Fulton Street Pedestrian Mall, a plaza designed to handle more than 30,000 daily visitors near several major subway connections, according to WXY Studio. That kind of density can make it easy for a suspect to slip into a crowd or duck toward nearby transit within moments of an attack.
Investigation Falls to the 84th Precinct
The case falls under the jurisdiction of the NYPD's 84th Precinct, headquartered at 301 Gold Street, which covers Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, DUMBO, and Vinegar Hill, per the department's own precinct information published by NYPD. Anyone with information is asked to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or the Spanish-language line at 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted through the Crime Stoppers website or via direct message to the X account @NYPDTips.
Investigations into public groping patterns and unidentified sex crime suspects in Brooklyn have included a separate June case involving the NYPD's specialized Brooklyn Adult Sex Crimes Squad, Hoodline has reported in earlier coverage.
How New York Law Treats Forcible Touching
Under New York Penal Law § 130.52, forcible touching is classified as a Class A misdemeanor, defined as intentionally and forcibly touching another person's sexual or intimate parts without consent, to degrade or abuse the victim or to gratify sexual desire, according to the statute compiled by ypdcrime.com. A conviction on that charge carries a maximum sentence of up to one year in jail, up to three years of probation, or a specialized probation term of up to six years in sex offense cases, per an overview from the Criminal Lawyer legal resource.
The statute traces back to the state's Sexual Assault Reform Act of 2000, which lawmakers created specifically to increase penalties for public groping after such conduct could previously only be prosecuted under minor sex abuse provisions carrying a maximum 90-day sentence, according to background from Wikipedia. The same statute also contains a subdivision that specifically criminalizes unwanted sexual contact against passengers on public transit systems, including subway cars and buses, per the Fast Law Firm, P.C. A conviction can also trigger mandatory sex offender registration under the state's Sex Offender Registration Act, but only if the victim is under 18 or the defendant has qualifying prior convictions, the same firm notes.
Part of a Wider Pattern Across the Borough
This case is the latest in a string of similar unresolved groping investigations across Brooklyn in recent months. Hoodline has separately reported on a search for a 4th Avenue groping suspect near 78th Street and an unresolved case tied to a Nostrand Avenue attack in Crown Heights.
Brooklyn recorded its safest year on record in 2025 for homicides and shooting incidents, though overall crime metrics saw slight fluctuations in early 2026 driven mostly by property crimes, according to statistics shared on Facebook. Even against that backdrop, public groping incidents along dense retail corridors and subway hubs like Albee Square remain a persistent quality-of-life concern for police and residents alike. For now, the man who approached the 31-year-old victim outside 445 Albee Square remains unidentified, and investigators are relying on the public to help close the case.
