Man arrested for attempted rape of nurse working on coronavirus front line
Victim from in New York City as volunteer carer for coronavirus patients
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Your support makes all the difference.A man was arrested and charged with the attempted rape of a nurse, who came to New York City from upstate to help with the coronavirus outbreak, police said.
Bronx resident Jason Roberts allegedly attacked the woman on Friday night.
The New York Post reports that he followed her inside the apartment building in which she is staying at 149th Street and Broadway in the Hamilton Heights neighbourhood of Manhattan.
Mr Roberts allegedly punched the victim in the face and tried to tear off her clothing. She was able to fight him off and he fled, taking her cellphone.
He was arrested by NYPD officers on Monday night and charged with attempted rape, robbery and burglary.
The woman was bruised and suffered some pain, but refused medical attention.
As many as 90,000 retired and active health care workers volunteered to help New York battle the Covid-19 pandemic when the city and state became the epicentre of the outbreak in the US.
Some 21,000 came from out-of-state according to figures from the governor’s office.
Many volunteer medical personnel are housed in hotels and serviced apartments at heavily discounted rates while they work to combat the surge of cases New York has seen in the past month.
On Tuesday morning there were 181,034 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New York City. The official death toll is 18,580.
NYPD statistics show an overall dramatic fall in crime during the month of April as the statewide lockdown continues — a 28.5 per cent decrease over April 2019.
The number of car thefts and murders was up, and there was substantial increase in burglaries of commercial premises. Reported incidents of rape were down 55.2 per cent, but NYPD stresses that many rapes go unreported.
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