Man dragged woman off street in Manhattan in attempted rape

NEW YORK - The NYPD is searching for a man they say dragged a woman off the street in Manhattan and attempted to rape her.

According to authorities, the victim, a 33-year-old woman, was along West 69th Street on the Upper West Side just before 1 a.m. on Wednesday when the suspect, riding an electric scooter, approached her from behind, grabbed her, and dragged her into a secluded area, out of view from the street. 

Police say the suspect then forcibly touched the victim's private areas and attempted to rape her. He then fled on his electric scooter in an unknown direction.

The victim sustained scratches and lacerations on her body as a result of the attack.

The suspect is described as a man with a dark complexion, roughly 20 years old, and last seen wearing a white t-shirt with ‘NY’ printed on the front, dark-colored pants, and white sneakers with red trim.

RELATED: Bike-riding man wanted for string of violent NYC sex attacks

The attack is yet another one of a string of violent sex attacks in the city over the last week, with a man attacking a 23-year-old woman near Central Park West and a 28-year-old woman being forced to perform oral sex by an attacker on an electric bicycle in Alphabet City. 

The man in the second attack was linked to another, similar incident in May.

Anyone with information in regard to these incidents is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. 

Police say all calls are strictly confidential.