Exclusive: Victim of Bushwick home invasion, sexual assault speaks for first time since attack
Police said a man broke into the 43-year-old's third-floor window on Pilling Street near Evergreen Avenue. She did not have a fire escape.
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In a News 12 exclusive, a woman spoke out for the first time since she was attacked and sexually assaulted while sleeping in her Bushwick apartment in October 2025.
“It was like out of a movie,” said the victim, who asked not to be identified.
Police said a man broke into the 43-year-old's third-floor window on Pilling Street near Evergreen Avenue. She did not have a fire escape.
“This man tied a rope to the chimney and climbed down the side of the building,” said the victim.
The victim said she was sleeping when she smelled strong cologne and then saw a shadow.
“I said, ‘Do I know you? Do I know you?’ said the victim. “He took the mask off, and he almost looked like he thought I recognized him.”
The victim told News 12 on Thursday that she did not know the man, who spent more than an hour inside her home.
RELATED: Video shows suspect running off after woman sexually assaulted, robbed in Bushwick home
“He jumped on me, tried to smother me with a pillow,” she said. “I bit him. I fought back.”
Police said he zip-tied her arms together, sexually assaulted her, then stole her cellphone.
“I had bruises all over,” said the victim. “I had a black eye.”
The victim said she’s speaking out now because she’s frustrated with the police investigation.
“[They told me] they know his name,” said the victim. “They know where some of his family is. It’s like, why can’t you catch him?”
The NYPD released a photo of the alleged attacker.
Nassau County Police released the same photo – after they say the same man was accused of burglarizing another woman’s home in Roosevelt in July 2025.
RELATED: Man wanted for burglary at Roosevelt home
“It really makes me angry,” said the victim. “I was so hopeful, and then [the investigation] just slowed down and slowed down when they had all this great evidence that was coming in.”
News 12 reached out to both police departments.
A spokesperson for Nassau County said they’re working with the NYPD.
The NYPD simply responded, “The investigation remains ongoing.”
“You just would never expect it to happen that way,” said the victim.
She told News 12 that she now lives out of state, suffers from PTSD and often wakes up screaming.
She said she was sharing her story not only to find the alleged attacker but to warn other women to be alert.
“This man is still out there,” she said. “He can do this again.”
