NYPD detectives from Brooklyn have arrested a man charged with beating and sexually assaulting a woman in Brooklyn on June 7, who they say had been a resident at the Jerome Avenue Men’s Shelter (JAMS) located on Jerome Avenue in Norwood.

 

Police say the 51-year-old victim was inside a building in the vicinity of Bradford Street and Pitkin Avenue in Brooklyn, when she “was pushed down a flight of stairs,” causing her to sustain a fractured eye socket, a fractured jaw, and broken ribs.

 

The assailant later allegedly forced his victim to perform a sex act, before fleeing along Pitkin Avenue towards Miller Avenue. They said the victim was transported to a local hospital in stable condition. On Wednesday, June 14, the NYPD released a video and photo of the alleged suspect, apparently inside a bodega.

On Wednesday, June 21, the NYPD announced the arrest of Jareill Finley, 30, who police say had been a client at the JAMS shelter located at 3600 Jerome Avenue. Finley was charged with assault with intent to disfigure / sexually motivated strangulation, and two counts of a criminal sex act, and sexual abuse.

 

In October 2021, a local resident told Norwood News, “That shelter is a disgrace! As a resident of this neighborhood for over 23 years, I have never seen my neighborhood this bad.”

A woman who answered the phone at the 200-bed shelter on Saturday, June 24, did not recall Finley’s name as someone who had stayed at the shelter and directed calls for comment to Tamara Gayle, the residence director of JAMS which is run by BronxWorks. We were unable to reach Gayle for comment.

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.