Knifepoint rape in Bx. elevator
A recently paroled high-risk sex offender was arrested Thursday in connection to the brutal, knifepoint rape of a woman in a Bronx elevator this week, cops said Thursday.
Level 3 offender Ramon Rotestan — who had been let out just six weeks ago after 16 years in jail — turned himself in around 8:30 p.m. at the 49th Precinct station house, police said.
The horrifying encounter happened at around 10 p.m. Monday, when Rotestan followed the woman into the building at Bolton Street and Lydig Avenue in Pelham Parkway, authorities said.
The attacker stalked the victim as she entered the elevator, where he appeared to talk to her while displaying a knife, cops said.
Surveillance video taken from inside the elevator allegedly shows Rotestan interacting with his victim — before pulling out what appears to be a condom. He then raped her and snatched $112 from her, police said.
She was taken to Jacobi Medical Center for treatment, cops said.
Rotestan was charged with rape and sexually motivated robbery, authorities said.
He has two prior arrests for rape — one on Dec. 11, 2005, and one from Feb. 2, 2006 — and one previous bust for attempted rape on Feb. 28, 2006, according to police sources. In each of those cases, he was armed with a knife, approached his victim in an elevator, and robbed her, sources said.
“That’s his M.O.,” a police source said.
Rotestan was ordered held without bail at his Thursday night arraignment at Bronx Criminal Court.
“This defendant has a long history of not only violently assaulting women but also failing to abide by court orders,” Assistant District Attorney Tala Nazareno told the court while arguing the government’s case to keep Rotestan behind bars.