Two cops saved a 74-year-old old woman as a 51-year-old neighbor tried to rape her inside an elevator in the East Harlem building they live in yesterday. "She was screaming, crying, trying to get dressed," one of the cops, 11-year veteran Charles Rodriguez, recalled of the scene he found yesterday. "Everything happened so quickly. I just reacted. I don’t remember what was going through my head."
The officers were called to 1840 Lexington Avenue yesterday morning, around 11:30 a.m., after the elevator doors opened on the third floor and a resident saw what was happening (and immediately called 911). Police quickly showed up, pried open the elevator doors, pulled tenant Angel Hernandez off his victim and arrested him. According to reports, by the time they arrived Hernandez had removed his clothes and pulled down his victim's pants.
The victim, who had just returned from running some morning errands, was taken to St. Luke's Hospital and treated for minor injuries.
