Police are searching for 39-year-old Kashaan Parks, suspected of raping a woman in the Bronx

MELROSE, Bronx (PIX11) – Police are searching for a man who allegedly used his belt like a lasso and choked a woman until she was unconscious, then raped her on a Bronx street last week.

Late Friday afternoon, investigators identified the man as Kashaan Parks, 39. According to the NYPD, he has been arrested five times and now they are looking for him in connection with the crime that police describe as heinous.

It is described similarly by residents of the area where it happened, near East 152nd Street and Third Avenue.

“I was really shocked to see someone take a belt – that’s a weapon – put it around someone’s neck and just pull it like that,” said Darlene Jackson, who said she has lived in the area for 40 years. “You can’t defend yourself against that,” she continued, “especially if you’re going backwards.”

The woman who was the target of the sex crime captured on surveillance video fell backwards after her attacker approached her from behind with a wide belt that he threw over her head and choked her. In the Video, she tries to remove the belt around her neck as the man pulls her to the ground. She passes out and the man drags her between two parked cars, where he then sexually assaults her, according to investigators.

It happened around 5 a.m. on May 1st.

“You could be going to work at this time in the morning,” said Minnie Williams, another resident. “That’s why I’m really sad.”

Williams was among many women in the area who said they felt much more unsafe with the suspect still out there.

“After I saw the video,” said a Melrose resident who gave only her first name, Joannie, “I thought, I’m not going to go outside because I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, like what’s going to happen to this is.” Lady.”

Police said late Friday afternoon that the 45-year-old woman knew the man who she said attacked her. Investigators said they knew each other from the neighborhood.

They also said that after the woman regained consciousness, she made her way to Lincoln Hospital, a trauma center four blocks away.

The move was praised by advocates for sexual assault survivors.

Cynthia Amadeo is CEO of Barrier Free Living, a Bronx-based support network for survivors of violence.

“Going to the hospital, telling the police and finding resources for herself,” Amadeo said, “that was an amazing thing that she was able to do for herself.”

Investigators said the woman received help but did not initially report the crime. Instead, she was recently arrested for petty theft and then told investigators what happened. They said the video of her being chased, lassoed, choked, dragged and raped showed how violent the crime was.

This video could also be informative, said Amadeo, the head of the survival organization. She said it shows what survivors can and should do.

“This person sought help, this person spoke out,” Amadeo said. It can send a message to other survivors of sex crimes who are far less willing to speak out about what happened to them, according to the survivor’s advocate. She said the message to fellow survivors to come forward is: “Maybe I can do it too. Maybe there is justice out there for me.”

She said it’s important for survivors after a sex crime – even months after or longer – to contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-HOPE (4673).