2 teens back in court in connection with rape, robbery in Chinatown

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Two of the teenage suspects in a brutal sexual assault in Manhattan are back in court Friday.

Three 16-year-old boys, identified as Eric Pek, Emanuel Burrows and Sanat Asliev, have been arraigned in connection with the sex assault and robbery of a woman police say they first spotted at a Chinatown internet cafe overnight Monday. $100,000 cash or bond bail was set for each defendant.

Police said they saw the 33-year-old victim taking a drug at the cafe on Eldridge Street around 5 a.m., and took advantage of her state. The location is reportedly a known place to obtain drugs like ecstasy.

The three are accused of walking her out and sexually assaulting her at a nearby location before stealing her purse and wallet, which included her home address. They also allegedly beat her until she was unrecognizable.

With her purse, keys, phone and identification, authorities say they hailed a cab to her Canal Street apartment, using her credit card to pay. They opened the building's front door using her key, but when they got to her apartment and tried to open the door, they were unable. The victim's male roommate was inside, pulling on the door to keep it shut.

That scared the three and they ran outside, all caught on surveillance camera. It showed them pulling their hoods up a bit too late to avoid their faces being captured.

Meanwhile, the victim woke up and stumbled to a nearby bodega. She was hospitalized, while someone at the Internet cafe was able to identify the three suspects, as they had been there before. Special Victims detectives worked quickly and made their arrests within 24 hours.

Eyewitness News is told they all have troubled pasts. Burrows has at least eight prior arrests, while Pek has at least six, including petty larceny and trespassing.

The three live at a Brooklyn group home where they were placed, but officials say they snuck out sometime Sunday night. They were arrested Tuesday morning at the home, where staff didn't even know they had snuck out.

Pek and Burrows are charged with first-degree rape, second-degree robbery, second-degree assault, third-degree burglary, fourth-degree grand larceny and petit larceny. Asliev is charged with first-degree attempted rape, second-degree assault and third degree attempted burglary.