SoHo on alert after alleged sexual assault

SoHo (WABC) -- Police hit the streets in force after a woman was sexually assaulted in SoHo early Wednesday morning. The victim was reportedly followed from the subway to her apartment building, where she was attacked by a man armed with a box cutter.

Eyewitness News reporter Jeff Rossen has the story.

Police say the suspect actually followed the 19-year-old woman down the street from the subway station several blocks. When the woman reached her building, the suspect allegedly asked her for a cigarette. She had one, so she gave it to him, and he then forced his way into the building.

The suspect had a box cutter and gave the victim a choice - get cut or get raped. He then dragged her into the courtyard, where he sexually assaulted her.

"He followed her upstairs," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said. "He then accosted her and raped her downstairs."

"We've felt safe for a long time and we sort of live under this feeling of safety," one resident said. "It's, I think, a little delusional."

SoHo is always considered upscale, so the idea of an attacker has the neighborhood on alert.

"You want to think every neighborhood you live in is safe, but I don't know," another resident said.

Investigators reportedly found surveillance footage of the suspect and were discussing whether or not to release the information.

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