Suspect set to face judge in Bronx rooftop rape, robbery
MELROSE, Bronx (WABC) -- The suspect arrested in the brutal rooftop rape of a Bronx woman is set to face a judge on Friday.
Lynneke Burris, 30, of Brooklyn, is charged with rape, robbery, assault, strangulation and predatory sex assault.
Police say Burris followed the 23-year-old woman into the elevator of her building in the Andrew Jackson Houses on Park Avenue in the Melrose section just after 1 a.m. Thursday.
She was put in a headlock until she passed out, according to authorities, and when she regained consciousness, she was being raped on the rooftop.
Her mother and sister spoke to Eyewitness News, though they did not want to be identified.
"She says that when she got in the elevator, he went right behind her," the sister said. "And that's when he took her upstairs, so we don't know what happened in the time that she was blacked out."
The suspect stole her wallet and her money, and he allegedly demanded the PIN number for her bank account. He then went to several ATMs and withdrew an unknown amount of money.
"She carries with her a little wallet, where she keeps her stuff," the sister said. "And he took her debit card and asked her for the pin."
The woman was being treated at Lincoln Hospital.
"She actually just came in screaming, crying and asking for help," the sister said. "And that's when we all came out of the room to help her...He told her that if she were to call the cops because of what happened, he was going to come back and get her again."
NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce released a photo of a man authorities say is the perpetrator.
Burris has 21 prior arrests, some for violent offenses like robbery and assault.
He was arrested just last Thursday in the Bronx after police say he asked a man for money and then punched him in the face. He was charged in March in connection with an assault in Brooklyn and in February for another robbery in the Bronx.
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