Two women ‘helped hold down 36-year-old as she was beaten and gang raped at knifepoint by three men inside a Bronx apartment’
- The victim, 36, was walking down the street when she was dragged into the apartment in a Bronx neighborhood
- Police said the victim was forced to take off her clothes, beaten, then held down by two women and a man, then gang raped by three other men
- The men then also forced her to perform oral sex acts on the men at knifepoint
- The woman was able to retrieve her possessions and escape from the apartment
The NYPD said a 36-year-old woman was held down by two women while she was beaten and gang raped by three men in the Bronx.
Police said Friday that four men and two woman forced the victim, 36, who is not being named, into an apartment in the Bronx’s Olinville neighborhood, before beating and raping her at knife point on Thursday at about 12.30am.
WABC reported that the woman was walking down the street prior to being dragged into the apartment.
Once inside, three of the men raped the woman, while the other three accomplices – one man and the two women – held her down.
According to the criminal complaint, obtained by the New York Daily News, police arrested three men – Bakary Traore, 24, John Cuevas, 19, and Alec Cepero, 24 -and two women – Keyna Cuevas, 24, and Nicole Puga, 21 – in connection with the attack.
Police are still looking for the fourth male suspect.
The complaint said that after the victim was dragged into the apartment, the suspects beat her until she was bloody.
The complaint noted that one of the men took out a knife and ordered the victim to ‘Take off your clothes and give us your stuff or you’re going to die.’
As the two women – Keyna Cuevas and Puga – and one male suspect allegedly helped hold down the victim, the three other male suspects allegedly took turns raping her and forcing her to perform oral sex on them while threatening her with the knife, according to reports.
Law enforcement sources told the New York Post that the victim was eventually able to fight her way to escaping and was given back her clothes and purse by a woman who was inside the apartment. It was unclear if the woman who returned the victim’s possessions was one of the women who was arrested.
The victim’s iPhone was said to be missing when her property was given back to her.
Sources told the New York Post that the apartment where the incident took place belonged to Keyna Cuevas and John Cuevas. It’s unclear what their relationship to each other is, however.
All five of the arrested suspects have been charged with sexual assault offenses, robbery, conspiracy and assault.
At their Friday arraignment, the district attorney was said to have requested $250,000 bail for each of the suspects, but the judge set their bail at $25,000 each.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.