MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A man stalked a jogger, followed her to the apartment building where she lives and attacked her in the elevator, Miami Beach police said Wednesday.
The 68-year-old woman described the 9 a.m. attack at 4747 Collins Ave. as an attempted rape. Officer Ernesto Rodriguez said the victim was returning to her residence after a morning jog.
"As she entered her building a male subject followed shortly after," Rodriguez said. "He entered the elevator with the victim and then began attacking her. He made attempts to raise her skirt and shirt while the victim fought him off."
Rodriguez said the elevator doors opened to the fourth floor during the attack, allowing the victim to escape. The man stayed in the elevator.
"He is seen in surveillance video exiting onto the third floor where he is walking in the hallway," Rodriguez said. "He begins to wipe the elevator button with his shirt and then proceeds to conceal his face with a secondary shirt he had around his neck."
Surveillance video shows the man walking out of the elevator on the first floor and running out through the front door.
A resident who lives in an adjacent building told Local 10 News he looks like the same man who got into the elevator next door.
"He came up to the 44th floor," he said. "I'm like, 'What are you doing here?'"
Rodriguez is asking anyone with information about the attacker to call the Miami Beach Police Department or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
"Thankfully, she was not injured," Rodriguez said. "However, we don't know if the next victim will be so lucky, so we really need the public's help in identifying this man."