A topless sex offender with 51 arrests against him allegedly tried to rape a 21-year-old woman inside a Manhattan subway station on Wednesday night, police and sources said.
Lamel Batten, a 44-year-old homeless career criminal, allegedly attacked a woman as she got off a platform bench at the 116th Street – Columbia University subway station around 11:45 p.m.
Sources said Batten, stripped naked with his pants down, allegedly threw the victim against a wall in the No. 1 train station, before he violently pulled her shirt and buried his face between her breasts.
According to sources, Parv allegedly tried to pull down his pants, but the victim managed to break free of him and ran to the mezzanine level of the station, where she told the police about the disgusting attack.
Police captured Batten at the scene and charged him with attempted rape.
Just a few weeks ago, the accused criminal was arrested for public indecency on the Upper West Side.
The man was caught masturbating on the northeast corner of Broadway and West 96th Street around 8:30 p.m. on September 4, police said.
Sources said his extensive criminal history includes 51 arrests for public indecency, resisting arrest and narcotics possession.
State prison records show he served a 14-month sentence at Marcy Correctional Facility in 2011.
In 2017, he was in prison again for criminal possession of a controlled substance and was paroled less than a year later.
Sources also described Batten as a member of the violent street gang Nine Trey.
He was awaiting arraignment Thursday night in Manhattan Criminal Court.
(TagstoTranslate)Metro(T)US News(T)Columbia University(T)Crime(T)Manhattan(T)NYC(T)Sexual assault
