The ex-con accused of choking and attempting to rape a 21-year-old lady on a Hell’s Kitchen sidewalk was a sadistic predator who was caught on digicam following a number of girls for greater than an hour earlier than the horrific assault, prosecutors mentioned.
Anthony Smith, who has an in depth arrest report and simply bought off parole three months earlier, was recorded trailing a number of girls close to W. forty seventh St. and Eighth Ave. early Sunday and “stared at them up and down” as he pleasured himself in public, Manhattan Assistant District Legal professional Kaniz Fahmida mentioned at Smith’s bail listening to Thursday.
After following a number of girls, he zeroed in on his 21-year-old sufferer at about 3:30 a.m., cops mentioned.
He’s accused of creeping up on her from behind, clamping an arm round her neck and knocking her unconscious as he dragged her to the bottom. When the younger lady awakened, he had his fingers inside her shorts and underwear, molesting her, prosecutors alleged.
Smith ran off after he realized the younger lady had woken up. The sufferer was on her technique to a close-by practice station when he attacked her.
She was was taken to Metropolitan Hospital the place she was handled for her accidents.
Cops canvassing the world recovered surveillance footage allegedly of Smith, who was sporting a black T-shirt, black shorts and white sneakers. Cops launched surveillance photos of the suspect, in hopes that somebody would acknowledge him.
Prosecutors mentioned Smith has served greater than 11 years in jail between 2006 and 2021 for various offenses together with theft, tried theft and drug possession. He additionally served two years in jail after being convicted of creating contraband in jail.
He was launched from his final jail stint in 2021 and his parole led to Could, in line with courtroom paperwork. He additionally has ties to New Jersey, the place he was arrested a number of instances in 2021 and 2022.
When cops launched surveillance photos of the Hell’s Kitchen tried rape suspect, a number of folks, together with Smith’s parole officer and Division of Correction officers who had handled him up to now reached out to police to assist establish him.
Cops later decided that Smith lived simply 4 blocks away from the place the assault occurred. When police arrived at his house on Wednesday, he refused to come back outdoors and hid in his house earlier than cops took him into custody, officers mentioned.
Cops discovered the garments he was recorded in inside his house, cops mentioned. He additionally admitted to cops as he was being processed that he had been in search of a lawyer for the previous two days “because of what he had done the other night,” Fahmida mentioned.
A Manhattan Legal Courtroom decide ordered Smith, 37, held with out bail on costs of tried rape and strangulation.
— With Molly Crane-Newman
Initially Revealed: August 15, 2025 at 10:36 AM EDT
