Woman followed & attacked in Brooklyn

(New York - WABC, June 8, 2007) (WABC) -- Followed and attacked. A woman's walk home in Brooklyn suddenly took a very scary turn.

That victim made one critical mistake -- a mistake she'd like to take back. Now, she's telling her story only to Eyewitness News.

Eyewitness News reporter Jen Maxfield is in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with the story.

The 29-year-old woman was on her way home from her bartending job. It was three in the morning, but she wanted to save money so she took the subway and then started walking home. When she came down some stairs and noticed a man behind her, she had a bad feeling. Unfortunately, she was right.

"I thought I'd save the cab fare and instead I almost lost my life," the woman said.

A young woman tells Eyewitness News about a frightening attack in the hopes of saving someone else.

We are protecting her identity after she was groped on her way into her apartment building early Wednesday morning by a man who stalked her, from the 7 train station on Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City, over the Pulaski Bridge and down her street in a waterfront section of Greenpoint.

"I ran here as fast as I could and I had my key. I was fumbling, I tried to go like this but he pushed the door and then pushed me in here," the woman said.

What happened next was such a violation, it is hard for her to describe.

"I was screaming and he put his hand over my mouth and said, shh, I just want to touch you, and then he put his hand between my legs," the woman said.

The attacker ran off after the victim pulled on his dreadlocks with all her might. The victim, on her way home from work, is telling her story in the hopes that other women will think twice before walking alone at night.

"I'm just emphasizing that everyone should be taking cabs home late at night, you never know what might happen, even if you've done the walk a thousand times," the woman said.

The victim is back at work at a Manhattan bar Friday night. But she says she is haunted by the memory of her attack, and also, the thought of how much worse it could have been.

She says she will certainly be taking a cab home from now on.

Police are looking for the suspect. He's described as: