A young woman has described the horror of being stalked by a hooded rapist across a deserted New York City subway station late at night, before he attacked her.
The 21 year-old, who wished only to be known as Jamileth, was saved by a security guard who heard her screams and chased off the suspect at the 169th Street stop in Jamaica, Queens.
The Ecuadorian immigrant got on the F train around midnight on February 24 after she finished her office cleaning shift and closed her eyes as she headed home.
When she opened them, a man was staring at her. Later, when she tried to get off the train he blocked the door while performing a lewd act.
Jamileth, 21, was saved by a security guard who heard her screams and chased off the young man at the 169th Street stop in Jamaica, Queens
Jamileth said the man punched her in the face and tried to take off her clothes while muffling her terrified screams by covering her face
Jamileth stands in the secluded spot her attacker dragged her to after following her through the subway station. There, he tried to rape her
Eventually, he left and she got off the train. She waited on the platform for a while to make sure he was gone before she began walking home.
But he wasn’t gone, he was lurking the in shadows waiting to strike.
As Jamileth started climbing the stairs, she saw him at the top, waiting for her. Her heart stopped, but the only way out was through him.
She kept walking toward the exit as he followed her down a long passageway until she reached a spot out of public view, where he pounced.
‘He starts bringing me backwards towards this inlet. That’s where he makes me fall down. He starts dragging me,’ she told ABC.
Jamileth said the man punched her in the face and tried to take off her clothes while muffling her terrified screams by covering her face.
This is the man who allegedly tried to rape her fled when security arrived
The suspect is still at large despite the NYPD releasing photos of his face and surveillance footage of him running away wearing a light blue puffer jacket
But she made enough noise that a security guard heard and rushed to her rescue, scaring the man away and calling police.
‘Now, I’m always looking behind me I can’t walk calmly. I always think that someone is following. I don’t know what to do. I feel terrible,’ she said.
Jamileth arrived in the US in January to support her family in South America, and has since switched to the day shift to avoid late-night subway rides.
The suspect is still at large despite the NYPD releasing photos of his face and surveillance footage of him running away wearing a light blue puffer jacket.