Cops: Man charged in attempted rape of woman leaving work in Hampton Bays

A 21-year-old East Quogue man was arrested and charged with first-degree attempted rape after police said he accosted a woman leaving her job in Hampton Bays on Saturday evening, wrestling her to the ground before she fought him off.

The victim, identified only as a 21-year-old woman, was not seriously injured. She was not identified because she is the victim of an alleged sex crime.

Southampton Town Police said the attack occurred outside the Out of the Blue Seafood Market, near the intersection of Montauk Highway and Canoe Place Road, at 9:49 p.m.

Police said the woman was physically attacked, wrestled to the ground, her mouth covered, as the assailant attempted to rape her -- before she fought him off and he fled.

An investigation led police to arrest Abner A. Ortiz-Tezen on Sunday. He was charged with first-degree attempted rape, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree assault and criminal obstruction of the airway, police said.

Police did not provide an address for Ortiz-Tezen, who was arraigned Monday in Southampton Town Justice Court and ordered held on $400,000 cash bail.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”