From Newsgroup: nyc.politics

MELROSE, The Bronx rCo Police are searching for a man who they say used his belt like a lasso and choked a woman until she was unconscious, and then raped her.

Late Friday afternoon, detectives identified the man as Kashaan Parks, 39. He has five prior arrests, according to the NYPD, and now they seek him in relation to the crime that cops describe as heinous.

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It was described similarly by residents in the area where it happened, near East 152nd Street and Third Avenue.

rCLI was really shocked to see someone take a belt rCo thatrCOs a weaponrCo and to use it around somebodyrCOs neck and just pull it like that,rCY said Darlene Jackson, who said that sherCOs lived in the area for 40 years. rCLYou have no defense against it,rCY she continued, rCLespecially if yourCOre going backwards.rCY

The woman who was targeted in the sex crime, which was captured on surveillance video, fell backward after her attacker came up from behind her with a wide belt that he threw over her head, and used to choke her. In the video, sherCOs seen trying to remove the belt from around her neck, as the man pulls her to the ground. She passes out, and the man drags her between two parked cars, where he then sexually assaulted her, according to detectives.

It happened around 5 a.m. on May 1.

rCLYou could be going to work at that time in the morning,rCY said Minnie Williams, another local resident. rCLSo I feel really sad.rCY

Williams was among many women in the area who said that they feel much less safe with the suspect still out there.

rCLAfter I saw the video,rCY said a Melrose resident who gave only her first name, Joannie, rCLI was like, IrCOm not going outside rCycuz I donrCOt know whatrCOs going to happen to me, like what happened to this lady.rCY

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Police said late on Friday afternoon that the woman, 45, knows the man who she says attacked her. TheyrCOre familiar to each other from the neighborhood, said investigators.

They also said that after the woman regained consciousness, she made her way to Lincoln Hospital, a trauma center four blocks away.

That move was praised by advocates for survivors of sexual assaults.

Cynthia Amodeo is the CEO of Barrier Free Living, a Bronx-based support network for survivors of violence.

rCLTo go to the hospital, and tell the police, and seek out resources for herself,rCY said Amodeo, rCLthat was an amazing thing that she was able to do for herself.rCY

Detectives said that the woman got help, but didnrCOt report the crime at first. Instead, they said, she was arrested recently for petit larceny, and thatrCOs when she told investigators about what had happened. They said the video of her being pursued, lassoed, choked, dragged and raped shows just how intensely violent the crime was.

That video can also be instructive, said Amodeo, the head of the survivor advocacy organization. She said that it shows what survivors can and should do.

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rCLThis person sought help, this person spoke up,rCY Amodeo said. It can send a message to other survivors of sex crimes, who are many times less willing to come forward about what has happened to them, according to survivorsrCO advocate. She said that the message to fellow survivors about coming forward is, rCLMaybe I can too. Maybe thererCOs justice out there for me.rCY

She said that itrCOs vital that after a sex crime rCo even months afterward, or longer rCo survivors contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-HOPE (4673).

months afterward, or longer rCo survivors contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-HOPE (4673).

https://pix11.com/news/local-news/bronx/police-seek-kashaan-parks-39-suspected-of-using-belt-to-choke-rape-woman-in-bronx/
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