Hunted in a rape try

Police are looking for a deaf man who allegedly tried to rape a female home attendant as she did laundry inside an East Village housing complex for the disabled.

The 46-year-old victim was inside the Tanya Towers laundry room on E. 13th St. near Avenue B on Saturday when Julio Mendez approached her about 11:15 p.m. and persuaded her to follow him outside, police said.

Mendez, 43 (photo), grabbed the woman’s arm and neck but she pushed him off and fell to the ground, authorities said.

He then allegedly put a hand over her mouth and tried to take off her clothes, but she screamed and Mendez ran away, according to cops.

“She was all scared,” said the building’s security guard.

Juan Rivera, who has lived at Tanya Towers for 18 years, said he saw the victim sitting on a bench outside the building waiting for cops to arrive.

“She was nervous. She was crying,” Rivera, 57, recalled.

Medics took the woman to Bellevue Hospital, where she was treated and released.

The victim has assisted an elderly couple in the area for about two years.

Building residents and staffers said Mendez was a quiet man who has lived in the area for about a year.

“He was calm,” said staffer Patrick Espinoza, 61. “He always goes to church. He always greets me (with), ‘God bless you.’ It was strange for me to hear about this.”

Police identified Mendez after several people in the building recognized the sicko from surveillance video. They released a photo of him Sunday and asked the public’s help tracking him down.

Cops say he is a familiar face to Tanya Towers tenants, but could not clarify whether he lived or worked there. He appears to be wearing hearing aids in the photo released by cops. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers, (800) 577-TIPS.