Rape Victim Thrown From Roof, Rescued

A woman was raped by two men and thrown off the roof of a 21-story high-rise, but she was rescued by residents who found her clinging to television cables outside the 17th floor, authorities said today.

“God was on her side,” said Housing Police Detective William Rodriguez, who investigated. “It’s good she managed to get in at the 17th floor because after that the wires went to one wire.”

The 29-year-old victim, wearing only a shred of clothing and rosary beads, was saved about 5 a.m. Sunday by residents who were awakened by her screams and looked out their windows to see her dangling from cable television wires between the 17th and 18th floors.

She told police she had gone to the top of the 21-story Drew Hamilton public housing project late Saturday.

“She said she was up on the roof gazing at the sunrise, and I understand that the suspects after raping her told her, ‘Jump off the roof,’ and one had a gun,” said Housing Police Lt. Thomas Hutchinson.

“She was a victim of a rape and a sexual assault and then she was pushed off,” Hutchinson said. “She was holding on to the grading or fencing” at the edge of the roof, “and they kept shouting to her to jump and then they pushed her.”

“She didn’t remember anything until they were pulling her in,” he said. “She blacked out.”