Stunning video shows fake cab driver attempt to rape Queens mom, attack kids
ELMHURST, QUEENS (KABC) -- A manhunt is underway after a man posing as a cab driver allegedly tried to rape a woman in front of her children before attacking the kids in Queens, New York.
Police released dramatic surveillance video of the incident, which took place on August 24 just before 3 a.m. in the rear of 7900 Queens Boulevard. They describe it as an attempted criminal sex act. Now, they're hoping a sketch and the video will lead to an arrest.
Shocking raw surveillance video:
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According to authorities, the suspect picked up the 26-year-old victim and her three children -- ages 1, 3, and 5 -- on 207th Street in Manhattan.
After driving them to Elmhurst and while in the rear of the location, the driver attempted to sexually assault the victim with the three children still inside the vehicle. The 1-year-old child was sitting in her lap at the time.
While the victim was attempting to get out, the suspect elbowed the 5-year-old in the head, knocking the child to the ground. As the suspect continued to struggle with the mother, he reached back into the car, violently grabbed the 3-year-old from the back seat and tossed the child onto the sidewalk like a rag doll.
The suspect then got back behind the wheel and, with the victim still fighting back, he reversed -- appearing to hit two of the children -- and fled the scene.
The victim's screams for help woke up some neighbors.
James Yang said he thought it was a couple fighting outside, but then he looked at the video from his surveillance camera pointed directly where the attack took place and now wishes he could have helped the mother.
"The sound kept going on for awhile," he recalled. "I feel very bad for that lady and I [wish] I could have done something for her."
The children were taken to Elmhurst Hospital with minor injuries.
The family is homeless and were on their way to a homeless shelter when the attacked happened.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his 40s, wearing a dark blue sweatsuit with white stripes. He had an earring in his right ear and manicured eyebrows, and he spoke Spanish.
