Bronx, NY – A Bronx man, Ramon Rotestan, 47, of 3560 Webster Avenue, has been sentenced to an indeterminate 16 years to life in prison for attacking and robbing a woman inside an elevator in a Pelham Bay Park building.
According to Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark, Rotestan brutally assaulted the victim, who was returning home from work to her children, on May 9, 2022. The incident, captured on surveillance video, saw Rotestan following the woman into her apartment building and then the elevator. Armed with a knife, he demanded all her money, taking $112, before assaulting her. A neighbor’s noise in the hallway prompted the attacker to flee.
Rotestan, who had been out on parole for only 39 days after being released from prison, was arrested on May 12, 2022. He pleaded guilty to Attempted Rape in the first degree and Attempted Robbery in the first degree on July 25, 2023, and was sentenced on August 22, 2023, by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Laurence Busching.
District Attorney Clark remarked that no woman should fear entering her own building and emphasized the deep effect the attack has had on the victim, stripping her sense of safety and peace.