Video of the attack has since gone viral and the 20-year-old victim has spoken out, calling it the scariest experience of her life.
Suspect James Rizzo, 45, was released from state prison in September after serving two years on a conviction for persistent sexual abuse.
Rizzo has 16 prior arrests including one in December 2023 for forcible touching when police said he groped a 33-year-old woman on Greene Street in Greenwich Village and asked, "Oh you want more."
Police say he is a level 2 sex offender for the 2023 forcible touching arrest.
He was also charged with attempted murder in 1997 for beating and stabbing a man in Brooklyn when he was 17 years old.
This most recent incident happened Monday morning in front of 735 Broadway. Amelia Lewis was walking down the street when police say Rizzo walked up behind her.
Police say he pulled her hair and slapped her head and buttocks, knocking her to the ground.
"He proceeded to grab my hair and violently and forcefully throw me to the ground," said the victim, Amelia Lewis, on a podcast on Wednesday. "He targets me and follows me from behind. So there is no way I could have seen it."
Bystanders watched in shock before a group of women behind her stopped to help and called 911.
Lewis said she is grateful for those good Samaritans.
"I am so grateful that I wasn't alone on a dark abandoned street with no people around, and also I'm so thankful that no weapons were involved. This could have been so much worse knowing now who he actually is," Lewis said.
Police say they later arrested Rizzo, who is homeless, on Tuesday, and charged him persistent sexual abuse, forcible touching and assault.
The NYPD said they were called for a man sleeping in a building. Investigators then made the connection to Monday's attack, and arrested Rizzo.
He was also charged with burglary on four separate occasions in that building, mostly while residents of the apartments were sleeping.
He is also charged with assault for allegedly shoving a 68-year-old woman on Thanksgiving in Midtown. She had to receive a total of six stitches after falling into a building due to the assault.
Rizzo did not comment as he was led out of the 6th precinct in handcuffs on Tuesday night.
Rizzo has a history of mental illness and has failed to report to his parole officer, who recommended that the suspect be remanded.
On Wednesday night, Rizzo was arraigned. He was remanded by a judge, and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
NYU says it is offering support to the student, and are pleased that the suspect is in custody.
"The University is pleased that a suspect has been apprehended in the attack on one of its students that took place Monday morning on a Broadway sidewalk," NYU spokesperson John Beckman said. "We take this incident very seriously. We are continuing to offer support to the student, and our Campus Safety Department assisted the victim and worked with the police investigating the incident."
Investigators are now trying to determine if Rizzo is responsible for other random attacks on female students at NYU.
Lewis posted Tuesday night that she is in "a much better place...knowing this perpetrator won't hurt any more young women."
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* More Manhattan news
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
* Follow us on YouTube