EXCLUSIVE | Upper West Side assault victim says she’s leaving Big Apple after attacker with long arrest history is set free

A lifelong New Yorker says she is ready to call it quits on the Big Apple after she was assaulted on the Upper West Side, but her alleged attacker was released back onto the streets of her neighborhood — despite a nearly 40-year-old rap sheet.

The attack occurred inside the Dunkin’ shop at 166 West 72nd St. at about 10 a.m. on Nov. 6, when the 55-year-old woman, who asked to remain anonymous, entered to get a cup of coffee. Seconds later, she was confronted inside the Dunkin’ by an apparently homeless man, known to frequent the outside of the location, who began ranting and raving at her.

“I go to this Dunkin Donuts every day, most days, and the fellow was sitting outside on a fire hydrant right next to the window itself,” the victim recalled. “He came in after me, and he started yelling.”

EXCLUSIVE | Upper West Side assault victim says she's leaving Big Apple after attacker with long arrest history is set free 2 — The incident was caught on the storefront’s security camera, which amNewYork obtained, and shows a man furiously waving a cane before appearing to strike the woman, sending her tumbling into the wall and falling to the floor. She was left wounded and stunned as the suspect stormed away.Obtained by amNewYork Metro

EXCLUSIVE | Upper West Side assault victim says she's leaving Big Apple after attacker with long arrest history is set free 3 — The incident was caught on the storefront’s security camera, which amNewYork obtained, and shows a man furiously waving a cane before appearing to strike the woman, sending her tumbling into the wall and falling to the floor. She was left wounded and stunned as the suspect stormed away. Obtained by amNewYork Metro

The incident was caught on the storefront’s security camera, which amNewYork Metro obtained, and shows a man furiously waving a cane before appearing to strike the woman, sending her tumbling into the wall and falling to the floor. She was left wounded and stunned as the suspect stormed away.

“I hit my head against the wall, I was bleeding,” she recalled. “I needed to go to the emergency room.”

According to an eyewitness, both the victim and the suspect may have exchanged words just before she entered the store before she was assaulted.

“It went to something on a different level,” a female store worker told amNewYork Metro during a phone interview. “Then, after that, the cops came, but nothing happened. So, I really don’t know what the next steps are.”

Sources familiar with the investigation into the matter identified the assailant as 60-year-old Charles Rogers, an unhoused man whose last known address was a Lower Manhattan homeless shelter. He was arrested by police days later on Nov. 8 and slapped with assault and menacing charges.

However, not long after his arrest, Rogers was back on the streets — waiting outside the same Dunkin’ where the Nov. 6 attack occurred.

This has left the victim of the attack both frightened for her safety, frustrated with the legal system — and determined to leave the Big Apple.

“I am worried nothing is going to happen,” the victim told amNewYork Metro. “The other thing I’m very upset about is that they’re charging him with a misdemeanor.”

EXCLUSIVE | Upper West Side assault victim says she's leaving Big Apple after attacker with long arrest history is set free 4 — Sources familiar with the investigation into the matter identified the assailant as 60-year-old Charles Rogers. Photo by Dean Moses

Law enforcement sources reported that Rogers is no stranger to assaults and has an extensive criminal past, racking up at least 39 arrests dating back to 1987. Police sources report that Rogers was arrested in 2018 for criminal possession of a controlled substance — crack cocaine.

In 2015, he was arrested twice in May for two separate assaults and again for another assault in 2014.

A source familiar with Rogers’ past reported that he was arrested for more assaults between those years, but those records include 11 sealed arrest cases. Police say Rogers was first arrested in 1987 for a robbery with a dangerous instrument.

Furthermore, authorities report that Rogers was scheduled to appear in court in late November for the Dunkin’ Donuts attack but did not appear, leaving a warrant to be issued for his arrest.

Still, he remains a free man pending trial, and was at the Dunkin’ when amNewYork Metro visited the location last week.

“I am very concerned for my wife’s safety,” said the victim’s 60-year-old husband. “My assumption was that he would be remanded in custody simply because this is a crime of violence.”

Both the victim and her husband said they love New York, but are so frustrated by the incident and the justice system that they plan on leaving their lives in Manhattan behind.

“When this happened to me, I just said: I want to leave — we’re definitely leaving,” the woman said. “I would like to move full stop.”