The man arrested for allegedly attacking a 20-year-old New York University (NYU) student near the college’s Manhattan campus had 16 prior arrests, according to police.
James Rizzo, 45, was busted by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and charged with persistent sexual abuse, forcible touching and assault in relation to the incident.
Rizzo allegedly approached the student from behind at around 9:20 a.m. Monday, slapped her head and buttocks, pulled her hair and ran off, police said.
He was perp-walked out of a Manhattan police precinct on Tuesday night, dressed in a black hoodie and gray sweatpants. He did not say anything to quizzing reporters as he was escorted into a police car.
The NYU security, who forwarded the footage to police.
"The University is pleased that a suspect has been apprehended in the attack on one of its students that took place Monday morning on a Broadway sidewalk. We take this incident very seriously," said NYU spokesperson John Beckman. "We are continuing to offer support to the student, and our Campus Safety Department assisted the victim and worked with the police investigating the incident."
"I just really want to emphasize how not OK this is. I am a student at NYU. I should not be scared to be walking the street to go to my 9:30 a.m. class. These people are disgusting, and they should not be able to be walking around the street freely targeting girls and doing this. Cause I heard that this guy did this a month ago," Lewis said in the video.
"I'm honestly still in shock, but I'm more enraged that things like this are able to happen in this city, and we really need to do something about it because this is unacceptable," she continued.
"This just shows that you really need to reflect on who you're voting for and supporting right now because New York needs help, and we're just not getting the help we need, and this is crazy," she added.
Fox News' Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report.