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May 16, 2003

THUGS RAPE MUTE WOMAN

From: New York Post, NY - May 16, 2003

By PHILIP MESSING MARRIANE GARVEY and CYNTHIA R. FAGEN

May 16, 2003 -- A 21-year-old deaf woman, unable to call for help because she is mute, was dragged to an abandoned Brooklyn building and brutally raped by four men before she was able to flee, police said yesterday.

Police said the woman was stopped at around 3 p.m. Wednesday on her way to an East New York subway station by a man she may have known slightly.

"We think he knew her a bit. She [the victim] may have known him from the neighborhood by sight," said a senior police official.

She told cops she had been on her way to Manhattan for a class.

The man forced her to accompany him into a dilapidated two-story home with boarded-up front windows at 1268 Blake Ave., near its intersection with Pine Street, where an accomplice was waiting.

Police said both men raped her.

Later, two other men joined them and took turns raping her.

Cops couldn't say how the woman managed to break away from her attackers.

She ran to a relative's home nearby, and cops were summoned to help her.

She was taken to Brookdale Hospital for treatment. Police said they would interview her again today for further details.

The woman was able to give police descriptions of her attackers.

One attacker was described as black, 18 to 19 years old, 5-foot-7, wearing dark clothing. Another was described as black, 22 to 23, 6-foot-2, wearing a blue jacket and black pants.

The other two assailants were described as black men wearing white T-shirts. One was bearded.

Police said they are hopeful that DNA evidence recovered at the scene will help them track down the attackers.

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