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Mostly Cloudy Following Elmont crime, alleged rapist is arrested
Local police say they have arrested a Queens man for committing several sexual crimes over the past couple of weeks, including following a woman in Elmont last Friday, while he was armed with a hammer.
According to Detective Vincent Garcia of the Nassau County Police Department, Anthony Moore, 19, of Queens Village, was arrested at 1:42 a.m. on April 20, after he followed a 22-year-old Elmont woman who got off a bus near Linden Boulevard in Cambria Heights, Queens. Moore followed the woman as she walked across the Cross Island Parkway overpass to her home in Elmont, and she noticed that he was holding an object that looked like a wooden hammer, Garcia added.
According to Garcia, Moore approached the woman’s house, near 116th Avenue in Elmont — where her aunt and uncle also live — and when her uncle came out of the home, Moore hid behind a tree. The uncle then called 911, Garcia said, and shortly thereafter, Moore triggered a motion detector, turning lights on near the home’s driveway and allowing the uncle to see Moore and provide police with a description.
When officers arrived and arrested him, Garcia said, they saw him drop an object to the ground, which was later determined to be a wooden hammer, he added.
Later that day, victims of two earlier incidents in Brooklyn picked Moore out of a lineup, police said. According to New York City police, Moore had approached an 18-year-old woman in Bushwick, Brooklyn, on April 9 at 12:40 a.m., and threatened to hit her with a hammer if she did not perform oral sex. He then allegedly raped the woman in an alley, officers said.
Later on April 9, police said, Moore had attempted to rape a 22-year-old woman in Brownsville, Brooklyn, after following her into her apartment building. That woman managed to escape and run away, following a struggle with Moore.
Moore was charged with first-degree rape and harassment, as well as other sex-related charges. According to New York City officers, he could be responsible for other attacks.
According to Garcia, the NCPD's 5th Precinct is not planning to issue a release regarding the Elmont incident.
