A man wearing a gold-colored crown and a black ski mask allegedly slapped and groped a 24-year-old woman on a Brooklyn street before running off, and police still haven't identified him more than a month later. The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect Friday, hoping someone recognizes the getup.
According to New York Daily News, the suspect approached the woman near Grand Street and Bushwick Avenue in East Williamsburg on Aug. 30, yelled obscenities at her, then slapped her and grabbed her buttocks over her clothes before running off. The outlet reports he is described as having a dark complexion and remains at large. Separately, as reported by FOX 5 NY, the incident happened at around 7 p.m. that Sunday, and the identity of the person police are looking for is unknown at this time.
The suspect was last seen wearing a yellow crown and black ski mask, paired with a black-and-red T-shirt and black sweatpants, per the same account. That description, along with the circulated images, is effectively all investigators have to go on so far.
What Police Are Asking the Public to Do
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS. Under the department's Crime Stoppers program, qualifying anonymous tips that lead to an arrest and indictment of a violent felon can be eligible for a reward of up to $3,500.
The Williamsburg case isn't the only recent Brooklyn groping report making headlines. Hoodline previously covered a search for a man accused of grabbing a 31-year-old woman from behind outside 445 Albee Square in Downtown Brooklyn on Aug. 8, then fleeing westbound on Fulton Street. That incident happened at approximately 1:11 p.m. within the confines of the 84th Precinct, and it is not known whether the two cases are connected.
No Arrest Confirmed as of Friday
No arrest has been confirmed in the Aug. 30 case as of the NYPD's release of the surveillance images. Investigators have not said whether the man in the crown has been identified through any other means, and his current whereabouts remain unknown.
