Locals React to 16th Street Sexual Assault

Hours after the , neighborhood watch organizations and Councilmember Brad Lander responded with solidarity for the victim.

According to police, a Hispanic male approached a woman from behind on 16th Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues and groped her in the area of her "front midsection" at around 5:20 a.m.

Officials from the 72nd precinct said they are reviewing surveillance video from the area during the time of the reported incident.  

Councilmember Brad Lander, D-Park Slope, said that the sexual assault, which occurred in , means there is work to be done.

“Sexual assault is a vicious reminder of the work we still need to do to end injustice that targets a person’s gender or sexuality,” Lander told Patch. “As a community and as individuals we need to support the victims of sexual violence and demand that attackers are brought to justice.”

Last year’s attacks, on 16th Street, spurred multiple grassroots organizations focused on protecting women in Park Slope and the surrounding neighborhoods. Safe Slope, which was founded in August 2011, is a group that provides services like safe walks home and other resources to empower women.

A founding member, Jessica Silk, said that she was upset to hear about the 16th St. attack.

“We are outraged to hear that a woman was recently attacked on 16th St...this incident is an unfortunate reminder about how important it is for the community to come together to respond to and prevent violence,” Silk said.

“Safe Slope plans to raise awareness of this incident and remind residents about our Safe Walk program and other resources, like RightRides and the Center for Antiviolence Education.”

Silk said that anyone who needs a “Safe Walk” home should contact Safe Slope, click here to go to their website. She also said that they are constantly looking for volunteers. 

Liza Trinkle, another founding member, is also disturbed about the attack.

“Everyone involved in Safe Slope is dismayed by news of this latest attack,” Trinkle said. “Right now we are focused on spreading awareness about the assault and reminding people about local resources (Safe Walk, Right Rides, and Brooklyn Bike Patrol for example) that might prove helpful.”

Brooklyn Bike Patrol—founded by in September 2011 and now offers free —was out at the Prospect Ave. R train subway station on Wednesday night near the site of the attack passing out fliers and offering safe escorts home.

Ruiz said that he and his crew of volunteers are going to be “visible” throughout the neighborhood and since an attack has struck, they will be out there protecting women.

“We’re always on duty, even though we might not be visible, we are always on duty. We haven’t been visible because there hasn’t been no need, there hasn’t been any attacks,” Ruiz explained. “Now that this has happened we will be visible again.”

Although Ruiz has a passion for protecting the women of Brooklyn, he said he is very upset about the attack.

“I am not happy about it, but I want to guarantee to the people of Park Slope and all of the surrounding neighborhoods that we will be around and visible starting tonight and we will not stop,” Ruiz said.

But all the groups expressed concern about initial reports about how the responding officers from the 72nd precinct first handled the attack on Wednesday, which authorities said they are investigating.

According to officers of the 72nd precinct, the victim was not at the scene when police arrived. The person who called 911 said they knew where the victim was and that they would bring her to the police.

The cops reported that they left the scene after waiting "for some time," but were called back a little while later by the same caller. However, the victim was still not present. The officers left again and no arrests have been made.

Safe Slope said that they are also upset about the alleged actions of the police:

“We are glad to hear that the perpetrator ran away when she screamed and that a number of neighbors came to her aide, but we are once again disappointed in the police's response to sexual assault,” Silk said.

Trinkle said that she believes the 72nd precinct’s response “seems to be negligible.” 

However, Safe Slope applauded the residents of 16th Street, which witnesses said came to the woman’s aide after she screamed and even pursued the suspect.

“We are glad that the residents of 16th Street responded swiftly to the survivor's cry for help,” Trinkle said.

Ruiz said that Brooklyn Bike Patrol is dedicated to keeping local women safe.

“I want to cut it off at the head, there are not going to be a bunch of attacks this year,” Ruiz said. “We are going to be out there.”

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