The unidentified predator then took off, heading east on Flushing Avenue, police said.
A vile attacker pummeled a 22-year-old woman and strangled her before attempting to rape her on a Brooklyn street early Thursday, authorities said.
The stranger approached the woman around 2:15 a.m. at Herkimer Street and Saratoga Avenue in Ocean Hill and punched her multiple times in the face, cops said.
The city saw an 18.7 percent surge in rapes last year – with 1,736 such reports made to NYPD through Sunday, the latest data available.
He then pushed her to the ground, choked her and molested her, authorities said.