Another arrest in sex assault; cops continue search for perps

A 26-year-old Sunset Park man named Adolfo Martinez was arrestedaround 9 p.m. Tuesday night, October 11 – some 25 hours after heallegedly groped an 18-year-old woman on 36th Street between Fourthand Fifth Avenues. He is charged with forcible touching and sexualabuse in the second degree and is awaiting arraignment.

Martinez is the second suspect to be arrested on charges ofsexual assault in Brooklyn this month. A 22-year-old Bensonhurstman named Federico Chamorro Yax was also arrested late Sunday, October 2, for allegedlygroping two women earlier that day on 56th Street, and reportedlygroping and attempting to remove the underwear from another womanon Sunday, September 4, on 65th Street. Yax was charged withassault, sex abuse and forcible touching.

Despite the ray of hope that these arrests lend to womenthroughout southwestern Brooklyn, these two arrests are for threeout of 14 sexual assaults and one rape of local women dating backto March 20.

Both men are being questioned to determine whether they wereresponsible for any of the other attacks. In the meantime, fourpolice sketches of other suspects – all Hispanic men in their 20sor early 30s – are still circulating.

And women – particularly Caucasian women in their 20s and 30s,the most frequent targets – as well as concerned neighbors haveremained on high alertforming advocacy groups and citizen bike andwalking escorts, organizing self-defense classes, handing out rapewhistles, and rallying up and down Fourth and FifthAvenues.

Those protesting and protecting one another include South Sloperesidents Jessica Silk and Liza Trinkle who founded advocacy groupSafe Slope andwalking-buddy group Safe Walk, and Jay Ruiz of Sunset Park whostarted the Brooklyn Bike Patrol to get women home from the subwaysafely.

Elected officials and community nonprofits have alsocontributed. Councilmember Sara González has worked with theCenter forAnti-Violence Education and CrossFit 718

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has also issued a guide withself-defense tips that can be downloaded at http://advocate.nyc.gov/safercommunities.

And police presence has been stepped up across the neighborhoods, althoughresidents have called for fewer gaps in patrol coverage and moreoutreach to the Hispanic and Chinese communities.

Police from the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit have joined withofficers from the 72nd Precinct to canvass the vicinity around theProspect Avenue R subway station and the 36th Street subwaystation, as well as other areas, where the suspect(s) have struckrepeatedly.

As of Tuesday, October 11, a $2,000 reward has been offered forinformation leading to the arrest of any of the suspects.

The first suspect is described as a male in his late 20s,approximately 5’7 tall and weighing around 165 lbs. The secondsuspect is described as being a bit more muscular, 5’6 and 28 to32 years old. The third suspect is said to be between 28 and 32,and around 5’6. The fourth suspect is said to be 20 to 25, about5’4 tall, with a medium build and a mole on the left side of hisneck. (See sketches on cover.)

To request a bicycle escort from the Brooklyn Bike Patrol, call718-744-7592 or email rocket55j@aol.com. To sign up for updatesfrom the 72nd Precinct, call 718-965-6326 or emailnypd72@gmail.com. To learn more about Safe Walkwww.safeslope.org. To request a walking buddy, call347-709-8852.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Brooklyn SpecialVictims Squad at 718-230-4418 or Sergeant Robert Mirabal of theNYPD Community Affairs Bureau at 212-614-6745.