Police Capture Fifth Suspect Wanted In Brooklyn Playground Gang Rape

Let There Be Light. The handball court area where the attack took place was lit up last night with flood lights provided by the NYPD.  The Parks Department also repaired all of the broken lights on the bathroom. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.



Two of the five suspects arrested for a gang rape that took place at a Brooklyn playground. (Photo: Paul Martinka

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

Police have captured the fifth suspect wanted in Thursday’s gang rape of an 18-year-old girl in Osborn Playground.

Authorities picked up the 17-year-old this morning at Tilden High School.  

Police are still searching for the gun and are expected to obtain a search warrant for the suspects residence on Rockaway Parkway in East New York.

All five of the suspects are expected to be moved from Brooklyn's SVU headquarters on Washington Avenue momentary to Brooklyn Supreme Court where they will be arraigned. 

  

All of the playground's gates remain unlocked by the Parks Department at night even after last week's attack.

Four of the suspects were in custody by Sunday after police released surveillance video of the group entering a nearby bodega before Thursday's attack.

The playground was unlocked at the time of the attack.

The woman was in Osborn Playground, near Osborn Street and Hegeman Avenue with her father when they were approached by five men, one brandished a gun. The group told her father to get the F**k out of there.

The woman said that she was grabbed by the men near the handball courts.  All five of the assailants raped her according to police.

The victim’s father flagged down a patrol car.

The victim was treated at Kings County Hospital.

The incident occured Thursday night at approximately 9:20pm. within the confines of the 73rd Pct.      


The Upper Eastside's Ruppert Park was locked up safe and sound last night.





SHOULD'VE ACTED QUICKER: Bratton says NYPD didn't alert community fast enough to Brooklyn playground gang rape as last of five suspects is in handcuffs
New York Daily News - January 12, 2016 - By Graham Rayman, Rocco Parascanndola, Larry McShane

Four Teen Suspects Wanted In Park Gang Rape In Police Custody

On Saturday police released surveillance video of the group entering a nearby bodega before Thursday's attack in the unlocked Osborn Playground. The father of the victim went into the store during the attack to call police but was not helped. He was later able to flag down a passing patrol car who responded to the scene. 

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

The police have four of the five teen suspects wanted in Thursday night's gang rape of an 18-year-old girl in Osborn Playground.

The teens, a 14-year-old, 17-year-old and two 15-year-olds have been in police custody since last night. 

Two of the boys were brought in by their parents. Police apprehended two others. Charges are pending. A fifth suspect remains at large.

  

Police released surveillance footage on Saturday night showing the suspects in a nearby bodega.

At a press conference on Sunday Brooklyn politicians blasted the NYPD for waiting two days before informing the public about the rape.  

Borough President Eric Adams, a former New York City police captain, charged the public would have been immediately notified had the rape occurred in Central Park instead of Osborn Playground in crime-ridden Brownsville.

“The imperative to catch those people shouldn’t matter if the park is Osborn [Playground] or Central Park

” he said.  “The same level of urgency must be followed.” 

“The N.Y.P.D. should have reported this immediately ” Mr. Adams said.  “You can’t have a crime of this magnitude and this level of savage behavior and not have the residents of that area become aware of what happened.”

A Walk In The Park first posted the story at 6:17 on Friday night, several news outlets however said when they called DCPI to confirm the story they refused to.

Playground Not Locked

The Parks Department, who has a legal responsibility to lock playgrounds at dusk,  has not yet answered why the playground was unlocked at that hour.

The sad fact is this incident would not have occurred in the playground had they done their job. 

Unfortunately this is not the first time an incident like this has happened.  In 2002 a 23-year-old woman was gang raped in Brooklyn’s Lincoln Terrace Park in a bathroom which was supposed to be locked at night.  Her nephew was held in an adjasent bathroom stall during the attack.

On Sunday the Borough President also noted that the playground is “nearly pitch-black at night with no working lampposts.”    

Mutliple media outlets have also focused on the lack of working safety lights in the playground. 

It is the Parks Department’s job to inspect the lights and the Department of Transportation to repair them after they are notified.

The Parks Department has not answered if there were light outage reports at the playground. 

"We must be proactively aggressive to keep women safe including better lighting and design of public spaces like Osborn Playground," Mr. Adams said.   

4 Suspects in Brooklyn Rape Are in Custody

New York Times - January 10, 2016 - By Benjamin Mueller and Nate Schweber 

Update: Teen Raped At Gun Point By Group In Brooklyn Playground

Police released surveillance video of the group entering a nearby bodega before Thursday's attack in Osborn Playground.
The playground was unlocked when the woman was raped.

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

Police are searching for suspects wanted in the heinous sexual assault of an eighteen year-old female by a group of several men in a Brownsville playground, NYC Park Advocates has learned.

The woman told police she was in Osborn Playground, near Osborn Street and Hegeman Avenue with her father when they were approached by five men, one brandished a gun. The group told her father to get the F**k out of there.

The woman said that she was grabbed by the men near the handball courts. All five of the assailants raped her according to police.

The victim’s father  flagged down a police car. 

The perpetrators are described as black males in their early twenties to early thirties. They fled on foot.

The victim was treated at Kings County Hospital.

The incident occured Thursday night at approximately 9:20pm. with in the confines of the 73rd Pct. 

Screen grabs from video surveillance of the suspects wanted in Thursday's horrific attack. 

Anyone with information on the suspects’ whereabouts is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577 TIPS. 

The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then entering TIP577.

Read/View More:

SURVEILLANCE VIDEO RELEASED OF 5 SUSPECTS WANTED IN 
CONNECTION WITH BROWNSVILLE PLAYGROUND RAPE

Eyewitness News  - January 9, 2016 

NYPD Seeks 5 Men in Gang-Rape at Brooklyn Playground
WNBC -  January 9, 2016 

18-year-old woman raped by group of five men at Brooklyn playground 

New York Daily News - By Ross Keith, Thomas Tracy, Ben Kochman 

Teen walking in park with dad raped by group of men

New York Post -  January 9, 2016 - By Amanda Woods

Surveillance video shows suspects in Brownsville gang rape of 18-year-old

Pix 11 - January 9, 2016 - By Magee Hickey,  Alyssa Zauderer

Two Shot In Osborn Playground

BROOKLYN

Two men were shot at Osborn Playground in Brownsville last night at approx 9:45PM. Both victims were transported to Brookdale Hospital. One male is in critical condition, the second is in stable condition. No arrests have been made. 

The 2.3 acre playground is located on Linden Blvd & Osborn St, Thatford Avenue.

 - Geoffrey Croft