By Gus Saltonstall
Good Samaritans thwarted an attack and attempted rape in Central Park on Monday, a police spokesperson told West Side Rag, and as first reported by the Daily News.
A 45-year-old woman was sitting on a bench Monday within the park around 5:40 p.m., near 109th Street and East Drive, when a man lunged at her, pinned her to the bench, and attempted to sexually assault her, police said.
Three nearby people saw the event unfolding and yelled out, before chasing after the man, who happened to flee the scene in the direction of a police officer, NYPD said. The woman suffered no serious injury, police added.
The man, later identified as Lateef Caldwell, 30, was arrested and charged with attempted rape and attempted sexual assault, police said. NYPD provided Caldwell’s address as a homeless shelter on Randall’s Island.
Caldwell was paroled from prison in April of 2025 after serving more than two years for an attempted sex abuse conviction connected to an attack in the East Village in 2022, when he tackled a 23-year-old woman from behind, according to the Daily News.
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WSR,
Could you please keep us updated on what happened to the perpetrator?
There are many other local crime reports that your readers would also like updates on.
I will provide the answer(s).
1. Released until trial.
2. Probation and released.
3. Victim being prosecuted.
It is usually one of the 3 above.
Released after 2 years for changing someone’s life forever. And not for the better.
Only to repeat it, tout suite.
Who do we have to thank for that? I suppose we won’t get the names of the geniuses on the parole board?
Tout de suite…
Toot sweet
Man, I am so happy they were there
All of the pathologies of New York politics on full display here. Don’t prosecute to the full extent of the law…. Let them out early …. Support the criminal over the victim…. Don’t protect women. ….And probably most glaringly, don’t give someone with a proclivity towards sexual crime the massive amount of supervision and rehabilitation that they need. Well done, New York. You’ve failed us again.
Equity..equity..equity
Vote better.
What are the chances our DA charges the good samaritans with something?
Next to none.
He’s done it before….
The charges will be reduced. He will be set free on cashless bail. He will do it again and possibly succeed. Progressive apologists will continue to make excuses for this failed policy.
Correct.
Dino nearly all violent crimes still have bail. He’s going to jail. You might also want to note crime is at historic lows and in a city of over 8 million people the best police department in the world is doing a good job and all the stuff you might want to disparage as “progressive “ is defending all our constitutional rights not enabling crime. It’s not a failed policy at all.
The only thing you said that makes any sense is “the best police department in the world is doing a good job…”
You obviously haven’t been a victim of crime and have the perp go free.
So yes, the system is broken!!!
I’ve been robbed, pistol whipped, shot at and a bunch of other vile and nasty things. In the 1980s. The perp isn’t going free. He’s going to get charged, tried and sent to jail.
John, I don’t care about your statistics. Crime of any sort is unacceptable and should not be tolerated.
Not being tolerated. It is unacceptable.
And how does this help the 45 year old victim, or the 23 year old victim from 2 years ago, both of whom are traumatized for LIFE?
I called it and there you are.
Attempted rape is a bail-eligible offense in NY, as is an offense committed when the defendant is on parole. Why the compulsive lying?
(Also, if bail is set and he was able to pay it, would we be any safer? No. Bail just allows wealthier people to buy their way out of pretrial detention. A weird thing to support in the time of Epstein.)
Your points here are tangential at best, but mostly irrelevant.
Perfect example of why things like that keep on happening.
Sarah immediately jumped to defending the system that treats violent criminals with kid gloves. Managed to insult the OP as a compulsive liar / an opinion different from hers = a lie.
And Sarah – he was no longer on parole.
If this person is convicted then at that point he should be removed from society permanently.
“Advocates” will help see to it that Lateef remains in society so he can try to rape again.
So this rapist scum served a whopping 2 years in jail for a previous rape. Great justice system the Democrats have put together.
Any photos of the perp available so we know who to look out for if by some chance he’s released into the public again? I only see the stock police cruiser photo. Thanks.
I remember when we had a safe City,
Exactly when was that?
And when exactly would that have been? I’ve been on UWS well over 50 years, my entire adult life, starting in the early 70s. Experienced multiple muggings and break-ins and kept a mental map of streets and subway stations to avoid at night. As for the parks, Ogden Nash captured the zeitgeist very well:
If you should happen after dark
To find yourself in Central Park,
Ignore the paths that beckon you
And hurry hurry to the zoo
And creep into the tiger’s lair.
Frankly you’ll be safer there.
5:40pm isn’t after dark. Stop victim blaming.
Yeah. Funny comment. NOT. Like in the 1970s and 80s?
We do have a safe city,
safe for criminals.
It’s safer now than it has been for the past 80 years. If I had a Time Machine I’d take you back to 1980. There’s probably more people in Manhattan between 59th and 110th on any given day than in the whole state of Wyoming plus Montana and then some. Crime will happen but right now NYC isn’t even in the top 10.
When?
Terrifying.
It’s not unusual to suffer from PTSD from a traumatizing event like this, and I sincerely hope the victim receives all the help she needs.
Imagine being so emboldened by the lack of consequences that you attempt rape in the daylight hours of a densely populated park. He simply did not care what happened to him, because he knew it would be mild and temporary. The victim, however, will suffer the consequences for her entire life.
Shocking to read that this is on a bench near Central Park west at 5:40pm. The park has changed a lot. Scary.
Unfortunately, the park has not changed. It’s as dangerous now as it always was.
Looks like they stopped the right guy
The last time a Good Samaritan got involved, he was arrested by our awful woke DA Alvin Bragg. Let’s hope this time Bragg charges the criminal, and not the victim’s savior.
Are you referring to Daniel Penny, who killed a mentally ill person who was acting erratically but had not harmed (or tried to harm) anyone? Do you really think these cases are at all similar?
You clearly did not watch the video or read any of the witness testimony. Instead you jump right to progressive talking points.
He actually harmed multiple people before the day he was killed and threatened numerous people on the day he was killed.
Oh I didn’t know you were on the train too? The people on the train were being terrorized by this guy and feared for their lives. But you know better than them. Gotcha.
Another violent male repeat offender who is likely mentally ill and maybe never got the needed treated by his parents/family and of course in the shelter tax payers are shelling out millions to warehouse. The violent mentally ill need to be placed in a different kind of facility other than a homeless shelter.
The vast majority of people suffering from mental illness are not violent. They are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators of crime. Misconceptions and myths about mental illness contribute to stigma and keep proper solutions form being implemented. Community based housing and systems of care work. Just look at places like Fountain House, The vast majority of crimes committed in the city are not committed by those with mental illness.
You’re not really addressing Susan’s point. Lateef is a violent male repeat offender. The vast majority of people suffering from mental illness are not the ones Susan wrote about. And, while Fountain House may be doing a good job, far too many violent male repeat offenders do not receive consistent, long-term care (or whatever is the right word). Lateef and others are released too many times to, effectively, street or subway. Restraint on violent repeat male offenders need to be much stricter and longer, and support systems much better after they’re released.
Majority of these crimes are repeat offenders. Why are they still being released so early? Why do we keep defending and making laws to protect criminals?
Sadly until criminals like this guy are put away NYC will never be safe.
Is it possible to include a photo of the would be rapist?
Google his name, it will show up in NYPost,
I’d like to see the person who did this publicly shamed.
Kudos to the Good Samaritans!
Cuff him and stuff him!
Book him Dano!
Put him in and throw the key away!
Unfortunately the jail (Riker’s Island ) is so badly managed and overcrowded. Definitely this man should be locked up but rehab will not be happening there even if rehab could be helpful in this case.