Stranger raped woman in NYC stairwell: NYPD

A stranger followed a 21-year-old woman into a building on the Upper West Side and then raped her in a stairwell, threatening to “kill her if she doesn’t comply,” police said Sunday.

The man followed the young woman into a building near West 65th Street and West End Avenue around 1:20 am Saturday, police said.

He then forced her to the stairwell, where he raped her.

“He actually threatened her that he would kill her if she didn’t comply,” a police spokesman said.

A video released by police shows the man taking off his jacket and throwing it over the fence. He ran on foot.

The woman was taken to the hospital in a stable condition.

The suspect is described as male, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds, and believed to be in his 30s. He was last seen wearing a black jacket, gray sweatshirt and black pants.

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Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the NYPD Crime Prevention Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or Spanish at 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

The public can also submit their tips by logging into the Crime Stoppers website at or tweeting @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.