Man arrested after multiple women say they were punched in face while walking on NYC streets

Police on Wednesday arrested a man on an assault charge following a recent string of unprovoked attacks reported by women across New York City in which they said a stranger approached them and punched them in the head or face.

Skiboky Stora, 40, of Brooklyn, was arrested in connection to the attack of at least one woman this week as she walked the streets of Manhattan, a New York Police Department spokesperson told USA TODAY.

According to police, a 23-year-old woman told police she was walking in the vicinity of West 16th Street and 7th Avenue about 10:20 a.m. Monday, when an unknown individual hit her in the head.

"The victim fell to the ground and suffered injuries to the left side of her face," police wrote in an email to USA TODAY.

The woman, police said, was treated at a local medical facility and a subsequent investigation led detectives to arrest Skora.

Police did not elaborate on what led them to the suspect.

On Wednesday afternoon, Skora was being booked into jail and the investigation remains ongoing.

It was not immediately known if he had obtained an attorney.

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A similar attack on St. Patrick's Day

Just over a week earlier, on St. Patrick's Day, about about a mile and a half from where the assault reportedly took place, police said another woman reported she was attacked in a similar fashion while walking her dog.

The attack involved a 25-year-old woman who said she was walking near Kenmare and Mulberry Streets, just before 11:50 a.m. local time, when an unknown individual punched her in the head.

No injuries were reported as a result of the attack, police said.

So far no suspect has been arrested in connection to that attack, police said Wednesday, and it was "unclear if these incidents are connected at this time."

It was not immediately known if the attacks were related, a police spokesperson told USA TODAY Wednesday.

"The investigation remains ongoing," the spokesperson said.

Nearly a half-dozen women also report being punched

The attacks confirmed by police come on the heels of several other women saying they were attacked in a similar fashion in recent weeks.

"this is so nuts there are a bunch of women getting punched in the face in nyc rn all over tiktok," X user @ymmayer posted on Monday "i don’t know if it’s all the same guy some of the stories seem slightly different but some of them seem similar."

The reported victims said an unidentified person attacked them while they walked during the daytime throughout Manhattan. Some said they were using their phones at the time of the attack.

"You guys, I was literally just walking and this man just came up and punched me in the face," one woman posted on TikTok, visably upset, holding her cheek.

In a handful of other videos posted on TikTok and X, other women said they were also ambushed by an unidentified man and sucker punched in the face or head.

"I'm in shock right now," one reported victim during a selfie video on a Tiktok post. "I was literally leaving class. I turned the coroner and I was looking down and I was looking at my phone and like texting and then, out of no where this man just came up and hit me in the face."

"What the hell is happening?" another woman posted, after also saying she was punched unprovoked in the head by a stranger.

"I'm literally trying not to cry," another woman says in another online video. "I didn't realize I was part of a group of women that got punched.."

USA TODAY has reached out to several of the women.

Anyone with information about the attacks or the person arrested is asked to contact NYPD.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.