Police make arrest in NYC hospital rape
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-11 11:38

A police officer's eye for detail led to an arrest in the rape of a 13-year-old girl who was lured from her hospital bed and assaulted in a nearby conference room, police said Saturday.

Deputy Inspector Susan Morley, commanding officer of the NYPD Special Victims Unit, leads a news conference at NYPD headquarters in New York, Saturday, April 10, 2004, to announce the arrest of a suspect in the rape of a 13-year-old patient at Bellevue Hospital Center Friday. [AP]

The suspect, identified as 43-year-old Hector Ramirez, was arrested at Bellevue Hospital Center hours after the attack when he stopped by to visit another patient his wife, said Deputy Inspector Susan Morley, head of the special victims division. He was charged with rape and assault.

The attack occurred Friday morning, when a man entered the girl's room and began reading the medical charts, police said.

Police believe the girl, who was awaiting eye surgery, left the room with the man because she thought he was a hospital employee.

Ramirez was arrested after a police officer heard a description of the assailant on a news report and made a link with a case from earlier in the day, Morley said.

Officer George Wolform had helped remove an emotionally disturbed woman who had jumped onto subway tracks early Friday, taking her to Bellevue for observation, Morley said.

Wolform had talked to the woman's husband, and found his description similar to the description of the rape suspect. Wolform then questioned the man after finding him visiting his wife, police said.

When police arrested Ramirez on Friday night, he had scratches on his face, Morley said. The victim said she believed she had scratched her attacker.

Ramirez is on parole on a burglary charge, Morley said.

The teen victim was transferred to another facility Saturday, where she remained in stable condition, said Kate McGrath, a spokeswoman for the city Health and Hospitals Corp.

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