Man Arrested Two Years After Sexually Abusing Sleeping Woman on Subway
Two years after Elisa Lopez was filmed being sexually assaulted while sleeping on a 4 train, the NYPD has arrested Carlos Chuva, 43, whom after being shown a still from the video told police, "That is me."
In a cell phone video recorded by fellow passenger Jasheem Smiley, from October 2012, Chuva can be seen slipping his hand under Lopez's skirt as she sleeps. Smiley and another passenger shouted at Chuva to stop and alert Lopez, who eventually awoke to fight her attacker off and exit the train.
Lopez told Cosmopolitan that she only learned the extent of the assault after the video had made its way online. "I was in disbelief," Lopez she told the magazine. "This can't be me. I felt sick to my stomach. I was yelling, screaming. I was hysterical."
After the video of her assault spread online, Lopez launched a social media campaign to find Chuva, but when asked by Gothamist how he was finally identified, the NYPD declined to comment. Chuva was arrested last Thursday and reportedly charged with first degree aggravated sexual abuse.
