Man arrested in daylight Freeport sex attack, police say

A Freeport man has been arrested and charged with a daylight attack during which he exposed himself as he tried to force a woman to take off her clothes, Nassau County police said late Tuesday.

Umari Taylor, 20, of Ocean Avenue North, was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of first-degree attempted criminal sexual act and held pending a bail of $80,000 bond or $40,000 cash.

Police said the victim, 44, was walking alone behind an apartment building on South Main Street in Freeport about 11:30 a.m.  on April 24 when a man with a knife came up behind her.

The suspect ordered her to take off her clothes, and when she struggled against him, he pressed a knife against her hip, police said. At one point during the struggle, he pressed the knife against her neck and ordered her to take her pants off, then exposed himself and ran off when she screamed, police said.

The arrest came after police over the weekend released a surveillance photo of the suspect in asking for the public’s help to identify him.