NEW YORK – A man accused of sexually assaulting a woman while posing as a firefighter was charged with kidnapping, sexual abuse and other offenses, authorities said Sunday.
Peter Braunstein, 42, also is charged with burglary and robbery in the Halloween attack, said Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau's spokeswoman Barbara Thompson. He faces a Tennessee charge of assaulting a police officer, as well.
Braunstein, a former fashion writer, was arrested at the University of Memphis after a campus police officer confronted him Friday afternoon. Authorities said he stabbed himself several times in the neck and spent two days in a Memphis hospital.
"As far as I know, he's now in jail," said Jackie Smart, nursing supervisor at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis.
Memphis police Sgt. Vince Higgins referred questions to the Shelby County district attorney's office, which was closed Sunday. It wasn't clear if Braunstein had an attorney.
Braunstein was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Memphis, then face extradition to New York, Thompson said.
Authorities say a man, believed to be Braunstein, posed as a firefighter responding to a blaze on Halloween and barged into a woman's apartment, knocked her out with a chemical-soaked rag and molested her over several hours.
A woman who recognized Braunstein from television reports called police on Friday, leading to his capture on a street on the Memphis campus, authorities said.
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