A man was arrested Tuesday for sexually assaulting a woman in an elevator in a Manhattan apartment building, the city police department said.
36-year-old Melvin Collins, who police said is a resident of the Bedford Armory men's homeless shelter, faces multiple charges, including sexual abuse and criminal obstruction of breathing.
Investigators said Collins followed the 42-year-old victim into a building around 8:10 a.m. Monday near the corner of East 20th Street and Avenue C in Stuyvesant Town.
Police said he groped and kissed her in an elevator, then choked her in a stairwell. He ran away when the woman began screaming.
The woman suffered scratches on her neck and was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition.
Sources told NY1 that the woman is a housekeeper for one of the tenants.