Day: April 8, 2025

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle editorial staff highlights images from around the world, photos courtesy of the Associated Press.

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A Brooklyn man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly sexually assaulting five women, ages 21 to 60, in separate incidents in the borough over the past few weeks, police said.

Brooklyn Special Victims Squad detectives took Kalen Bell of Vinegar Hill into custody at 9:25 a.m. on April 8 at the 77th Precinct stationhouse, where the 26-year-old was charged with five counts of forcible touching and five counts of third-degree sexual abuse.

Detectives escorted the alleged creep out of the Borough’s Special Victims Unit, located at 653 Grand Ave., on Tuesday afternoon. He refused to answer questions from the media about his alleged crimes before he was loaded into the back of a waiting police car en route to criminal court for arraignment.

Authorities say the incidents occurred between March 19 and April 2, within the confines of Brooklyn’s 84th and 88th precincts, where Bell allegedly approached the women from behind and committed lewd acts.

According to police sources, in each case, Bell would allegedly thrust his pelvic area against the victim’s buttocks before fleeing the scene.

The first incident occurred on March 19, at approximately 6:45 a.m., when a 30-year-old woman was walking near Gold and Front Streets. According to police reports, the woman was approached from behind by an unidentified individual, who grabbed her waist and performed the lewd act. The suspect fled the scene on foot, and the woman was unharmed physically.

Several days later, on March 30, at around 7:48 a.m., a 21-year-old woman walking near Middagh and Willow Streets experienced a similar attack. The assailant approached her from behind, placed his hands around her arms, and committed the lewd act before fleeing the area on foot. Again, no physical injuries were reported, but the woman was left shaken by the assault.

The third and fourth incidents followed a similar pattern. On April 1, at 10:29 p.m., a 34-year-old woman walking near Henry and Joralemon Streets reported that an unidentified individual approached her from behind, grabbed her waist, and performed a lewd act. As in the previous cases, the suspect fled the scene before the woman could react.

Hours later, on April 2, at 3:40 a.m., a 60-year-old woman was walking near Fulton Street and Ashland Place when she was approached by an individual, who similarly assaulted her. The suspect once again fled on foot after committing the act, and no injuries were reported.

Authorities circulated images of the alleged creep through Crime Stoppers last week and arrested Bell on April 8 after a member of the public identified him as the alleged perpetrator.

Details of the fifth incident were not immediately available at the time of Bell’s arrest.

Criminal charges filed against southern Brooklyn Council Member Susan Zhuang after she bit a police officer last year were dropped on Tuesday, after she finished a restorative justice program.

Zhuang was arrested last summer after she assaulted an officer during a protest against a proposed homeless shelter in Gravesend.

The first-term council member was charged with multiple counts of assault, resisting arrest, obstructing government administration, harassment, and last year pleaded not guilty on all charges, claiming officers had grabbed her as she was trying to assist an elderly woman trapped by a police barricade. 

The program the council member took part in “created space for dialogue, accountability, and healing,” and included a meeting between Zhuang and victim Frank DiGiacomo, said Brooklyn DA spokesperson Oren Yaniv.

“It was based on the wishes of the victim and the defendant’s willingness to make amends,” he said. “This is exactly what restorative is meant to do — address harm, foster understanding, and support a path forward.”

Restorative justice aims to reduce incarceration by asking perpetrators to take “active accountability,” according to the Center for Justice Innovation — which facilitated Zhuang’s program, according to Politico.

In cases where people are charged with misdemeanors or felonies related to “interpersonal harm,” the defendant and the victim will meet with each other and members of their community to discuss the incident, how it impacted the victim, and how to prevent future harm in the future. 

If both parties are satisfied, the case is returned to the court and closed, per CJI. Zhuang’s case will also be sealed, per news outlet THE CITY. 

Katelynn Ulrich, a spokesperson for Zhuang, said in a statement “Susan Zhuang’s mission has not changed. We go forward.”

Zhuang, a right-leaning Democrat, has received significant praise from her supporters since the arrest. 

A vocal group of her constituents are strongly against the proposed homeless shelter she was protesting last summer, and vowed last summer to “never stop protesting” against the site.  

Locals gave her a hero’s welcome when she returned to the district after her arraignment last summer, and when she had a brief court appearance months later, gathered outside the courthouse waving signs that said “Stand With Susan Zhuang” and “Equal Justice for Susan Zhuang.” In the months after the incident, more than 200 people donated over $66,00o to her legal defense fund.

Zhaung is up for re-election this year, and has so far raised more than $84,000 toward her campaign, according to the city’s Campaign Finance Board. Now that charges have been dropped, though, the City Council is likely to continue an ethics investigation of the council member. The investigation had previously been paused until the court case case was finished. 

NONPROFIT BROOKLYN BOOK BODEGA APPEARED ON THE “THE KELLY CLARKSON SHOW” LAST WEEK for an interview with co-founders.

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