Police: Woman Raped By Driver After Flagging Down Vehicle In Brooklyn
EDITOR'S NOTE 3/19/21 2:00 p.m. - Police now say the woman has recanted her story and that no rape took place. Our original story from March 18 appears below.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police say a woman was raped by a driver she hailed in Brooklyn to take her home.
According to police, the 23-year-old woman flagged down a black Cadillac on Utica Avenue near Prospect Place in Crown Heights on Thursday morning.
Instead of taking her home, the man stopped the car outside a building in Williamsburg.
Investigators say the man then pressed a sharp object to her back, led her to the building's basement and raped her.
"It's scary, and I honestly feel, my parents live here, that we should be notified, especially if it's a rapist," neighbor Jashin Merced said.
"I hope they catch the guy and throw him under the jail," one man said.
The woman was taken to a local hospital.
No arrests have been made. Police say it's not clear if her attacker was a legitimate ride share or livery cab driver.