Man Grabs Another Man’s Buttocks in Times Square, Flees

A 30-year-old man walking in the vicinity of 7th Avenue and 42nd Street at approximately 12:19 a.m. on Jan. 9 told police an unidentified male approached him from behind, “grabbed his buttocks,” and fled on foot.

The victim of “forcible touching,” who wasn’t injured, was startled, upset, and cognizant enough to go to the police.

In this case, the cops responsible for protecting this part of Times Square are from the 14th Precinct, better known as Midtown South, whose station house is on 357 W. 35th St., between Eighth and Ninth avenues. The current Commanding Officer of Midtown South is Inspector Aaron Edwards.

Surveillance photos of the suspected grabber show a smiling, healthy-looking if somewhat portly black male in his 30s or 40s with a short-stemmed iPod or similar ear bud in one ear. The suspect has very short black hair, a thin black mustache and was wearing an unzipped hip-length black insulated winter coat with a faux-fur trim on the hood over an unzipped gray hoodie. His base layer appears to be a black or navy blue T-shirt.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.

According to New York State Penal Law Section 130.52:

“A person is guilty of forcible touching when such person intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose . . . forcibly touches the sexual or other intimate parts of another person for the purpose of degrading or abusing such person, or for the purpose of gratifying the actor’s sexual desire.”

Though categorized as a sex offense, Forcible Touching is only a Class A Misdemeanor.

Under the CompStat category “Other Sex Crimes,” Midtown South is equaling its 2024 numbers with 15 such crimes reported from Jan. 1 through Feb. 2.