NYPD: Bronx woman falls from window to escape robbery

MELROSE, Bronx (WABC) -- Police are investigating after a woman fell to her death from a fifth-story apartment window, apparently to escape a robbery in the Bronx.

Authorities say 43-year-old Maria Carolina Sanchez-Tiburcio, of the Bronx, fell out of the apartment window. She did not live in the building.

The incident happened around 3:15 p.m. March 3 at 940 Grand Concourse. Police said they found Sanchez-Tiburcio unconscious with trauma to her head and body, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

A man who was in the apartment at the time, 46-year-old Pedro Perez, was arrested for possession of a defaced Ruger .09-mm handgun with 14 rounds. He had minor cuts and abrasions to his hands.

He was released after posting $20,000 bail and is not cooperating with detectives, according to authorities. Detectives are looking into Sanchez-Tiburcio's relationship with Perez.

Surveillance video also shows people running from the building shortly after Sanchez-Tiburcio fell.

"We think right now...four males came to that apartment on the fifth floor to commit a home invasion robbery or engage in some kind of dispute with the owner of the apartment," NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).