Police arrest suspect in rape of woman on the Upper West Side

Police say they’ve made in an arrest in the search for a suspected rapist who followed a woman into her Upper West Side apartment building.

Jamel McIver is now charged with rape and sexually motivated burglary, among other charges, officials said.

Authorities say he was caught Sunday afternoon hours after his photo was distributed to the media when his step-family recognized him and called police.

Surveillance video from West 65th Street and West End Avenue showed the accused sexual predator.

A 21-year-old woman says the man followed her into the building early Saturday morning. Officials say he forced her out of an elevator and into a stairwell at around 1 a.m.

The woman says after the rape, the man forced her back onto the street and ran off.

McIver already has an attempted rape case pending from 2019, when he broke into a sleeping 16-year-old girl’s Bronx bedroom. He was caught in that case following a tip from neighbors and is due back in court March 29.

McIver has eight prior arrests from between 2017 and 2019 and lives in housing for homeless people with disabilities in East Harlem.

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