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 New York Post reported Rizzo’s 16 prior arrests include sexual abuse, forcible touching, repeated assaults on women, burglary and a 1997 murder arrest. New York state prison records show Rizzo has no murder conviction on his record.
Rizzo previously served a two-year state sentence for persistent sexual abuse before being released on parole in September, the records show. He was still on active parole on Monday.
WATCH: NYU student allegedly assaulted on way to class, video shows
The victim, identified on social media as NYU student Amelia Lewis, posted video and surveillance footage of the attack on X and TikTok, saying a man had assaulted her on the street without warning.
“When I turned around, I saw this old, White guy, and, like right when I turned around, he like grabbed my f—— hair like this and like yanked me and threw me to the ground,” Lewis said.
A group of girls is then seen in the footage helping her up after she was knocked to the ground.
Lewis said the surveillance video was obtained by a friend of hers from a nearby liquor store. She described the assailant as a tall man with long brown hair and a long brown beard, wearing gray sweatpants, a black puffer jacket and a blue towel around his neck.
WATCH: NYU student recounts shocking street attack
The college student said she sent the video to 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.
