A homeless man was arrested on Saturday for the horrific stranglehold rape on New Year’s Eve by a fake delivery man, thanks to Manhattan police officers who spotted a bum in a canary yellow jacket – the same distinct color used by the attacker, sources said. Post.
Public Security officers at the 13th Precinct were seated in a police car near the rape site on East 30th Street and Third Avenue in Kip’s Bay at 1 am, when a man in a fluffy yellow jacket that matched the rapist’s description passed well. in front of them, the sources said.
They recognized him from surveillance photos, sources said after the arrest of Elijah Kelly, 23, who lived in the famous men’s shelter on 30th Street, near Bellevue Hospital.
The massive 1,000-bed facility has hosted dozens of homeless sex offenders at the same time.
Kelly has at least three strangulation charges on her police record, the first of the fights with women in 2017 and 2019, police sources said. It was not clear what the disposition of these two cases was.
At the time of the rape, Kelly was free on bail in an open asphyxiation case for Queens’ misdemeanor in May. He had an additional open petit theft case in June, also in Queens, public records show.
His registry attorney in these two open cases did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kelly was arrested in New Year’s Eve rape without incident – wearing the same jacket he wore in the rape, sources claimed.
Kelly supposedly still had the victim’s debit card – and an ATM withdrawal receipt – in her jacket pocket.
The 27-year-old victim opened the door just before noon on New Year’s Eve, believing he was receiving a delivery, but was choked by the suspect, police said.
She regained consciousness while being raped, she told police.
Kelly is being charged with rape, theft, criminal assault, strangulation, theft, theft and sexual abuse.
At the men’s shelter on Saturday night, Kelly’s fellow residents told the Post that he gives homeless people a bad name – and that they were happy that the violent crime was resolved.
“It makes it look bad for us,” said resident Hector Miolan Perez, 37.
“I’m glad that they caught him. You don’t want people like that around. This makes it look bad for the shelter. “
Additional reporting by Larry Celona and Sam Raskin