Woman fights off stranger who tried to rape her at NYC bus stop
A woman bravely fought off a COVID-mask wearing creep who tried to rape her at a Queens bus stop, police said.
The 26-year-old woman was at the corner of Woodhaven Boulevard and Hoffman Drive in Elmhurst around 4:30 a.m. Friday when the stranger approached her from behind and slapped her on the butt, a police source said.
After briefly walking away, the man returned and grabbed her by the wrists, pinning her against a fence while lifting her skirt and trying to rape her, the source said.
A perv was wearing a blue surgical mask when he allegedly tried to rape a woman waiting for a bus.
The woman fought off her attacker, who fled into the Woodhaven Boulevard subway station. The attacker was described as a tall, thin man with a dark complexion who's between 20 and 30 years old.
The victim was waiting for a bus on Woodhaven Boulevard in Queens when the man approached from behind and slapped her.
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He was last seen wearing blue headphones, a surgical mask, black jacket, camouflage pants and gray sneakers, according to cops.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on X @NYPDTips.
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Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Joe Exotic, star of the Netflix documentary Tiger King that garnered him global attention during the COVID pandemic, told Newsweek in an exclusive new interview that he has "lost everything." Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado, became a household name five years ago when Netflix aired a documentary centered on him, his affection for tigers, and a zany cast of characters working at his tiger sanctuary in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, from 1999 to 2018. Prior to the documentary's release, he was convicted of two counts of murder-for-hire against Carole Baskin—an adversary in Tiger King—and eventually sentenced to 21 years in prison. This November marks eight years that he's behind bars. Exotic claims to have never reaped any rewards for being the centerpiece. 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"With the medical care I get in here, I probably won't even make it five more years." "Tiger King" star Joe Exotic spoke with Newsweek about his prison experience, health issues, fighting back against Netflix, and how he's dealt with the deportation of his husband. "Tiger King" star Joe Exotic spoke with Newsweek about his prison experience, health issues, fighting back against Netflix, and how he's dealt with the deportation of his husband. Newsweek Illustration/Canva/Getty/AP Newsroom Deported Husband In May, his 33-year-old husband Jorge Marquez Flores was deported to Mexico for illegal entry to the United States, after completing a federal prison sentence. 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We don't hold him being deported against anybody because that's the law." Pleas for Pardons In April 2019, a federal jury found him guilty on two counts of hiring someone to murder Baskin, founder of Big Cat Rescue in Florida, eight counts of violating the Lacey Act by falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act by killing five tigers and selling tigers across state lines. Regarding Baskin, he said the documentary portrayed her as close to who she actually is. "To this day you'll never convince me she didn't kill her husband because I investigated it for almost 10 years, and I have her original diary," Exotic said. "I interviewed all of her staff and all of her past staff. She killed him." Baskin has denied that she had any involvement in her husband's disappearance or death. Exotic also takes umbrage with the Endangered Species Act charges. "That's my ultimate goal, to prove that generic tigers that are branded in captivity in the United States do not belong on the United States endangered species list because the endangered species list of 1973 was written to protect the native species and the habitats of our lands," he said. "Tigers, elephants, chimpanzees, orangutans, none of that belongs on our endangered species [list]. We are spending billions of dollars regulating something in America that is protected." Exotic continues to try to talk to anybody who will listen in hope he can get a pardon, or at least an early release. Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, said last week that her office received an inquiry from Exotic for help. He's made additional reach outs to lawmakers and celebrities including Secretary of State Marco Rubio (when he was a senator), former GOP Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, Joe Rogan, Andrew Tate, Dana White, Hulk Hogan, and President Trump. 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"Drugs in here is crazy," he said. "You would never believe how many drugs are inside a federal prison. And that's why when I was running for president, I was like, you are so wasting your time on drugs against the war on the border when you can't keep them out of a fenced-in federal is nothing but a college for wannabe drug addicts." He said he spends days watching half the prison population "act like 2-year-olds drooling because they're so high on synthetic marijuana." Fame But Being Alone "It is it overwhelming and gratifying that the entire world knows who I am," he admitted. "I absolutely am upset that they made me out to be a meth head and some crazy fool." Exotic said he gets along with everyone in prison because he honors his words and minds his own business. His life outside is emptier. Both his parents died, one in 2019 and the other in 2020. His husband is in a foreign country and may not be able to return. His three siblings have maintained no contact with him since 1997, which he says is because he's a homosexual. "There is light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "But what keeps me going—I've never even had a speeding ticket. I have no criminal history, period. I know who I am, and my parents raised me to do right." He continued: "And even though I've lost everything I've ever worked for, I am so looking forward to walking out these gates—whether it's with President Trump's blessing or not, and making my life or what I have left of it 10 times better than the life that I had. And I had a pretty good life."
