Julio Mendez
By Sabina Mollot
Police are looking for a man who allegedly tried to rape a woman in a residential building at 620 East 13th Street between Avenues B and C.
Police said the suspect, who has since been identified as Julio Mendez, 43, approached the victim, a 46-year-old woman on Saturday at 11:15 p.m. while she was in the building’s laundry room.
While police said it’s unknown what the man’s relationship was to the woman, he has been known to frequent the building, Tanya Towers, which offers low-income housing as well as being home to an organization that offers supportive housing and other services to people who are hard of hearing and have vision impairments.
Mendez, police said, started talking to the victim and convinced her to follow him outside. He then grabbed her by the arm and neck and the victim, in her struggle to get away from him, fell to the ground. Mendez allegedly then covered her mouth and tried to pull of her clothing. The victim continued to try to fight him off as he sexually assaulted her, police said, eventually running off when the victim screamed.
The woman was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she has since treated and released.
Mendez is described as a male Hispanic, 5’6″, 160lbs, with an average build, medium complexion, short black hair and brown eyes. Police are unsure of where he lives.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident 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 Crime Stoppers website at nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.