The NYPD says the attacker followed the 23-year-old woman to a residential building on Thompson Street and Prince Street at around 4:10 a.m.
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Once inside the building, they say he grabbed the victim, placed her in a chokehold, and then sexually assaulted her.
He ran away on Thompson Street.
The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Eyewitness News spoke with women who work and live in SoHo and were shocked at the news.
"You just think that you're safe and it's never going to be you. And then it is. So I mean, I'm glad. I know now I'm going to be even more aware than I already am. It's just terrifying," said Alexa Everett, a resident.
"I feel like it's always just safe to be like, you know, hyper-aware of your surroundings just anywhere in New York, like no matter how, you know, busy or so if you think you are, you never know," said Crystal Xu, works in SoHo.
The attacker is described as a man with a dark complexion and a slim build. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with red lettering that forms a heart shape, gray pants with stripes, and orange sneakers.
Anyone with information in regard to 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).
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