Person of Interest Named in Halloween Attack

Nov. 7, 2005 — -- Police reportedly have named a person of interest in the case of a New York City woman who says she was molested for 12 hours on Halloween evening by a man posing as a firefighter.

The 34-year-old woman told police a man wearing a fireman's jacket and helmet came to her door around 6 p.m. on Oct. 31 and told her there was a fire in the building, the New York Post reported. Detectives believe the intruder set two small fires outside the woman's apartment as part of the ploy.

"She opened the door and he pushed his way in, then proceeded to attack her," said Brad Hamilton who has been covering the story for the New York Post. "He knocked her out, he drugged her with chloroform, he stripped her naked, he bounded her up, he videotaped the assault which included a sexual assault but not a rape, and he also humiliated her with pointed reference to things that had happened to her in her life that were humiliating and embarrassing to her."

These personal details have led police to identify Peter Braunstein, a former colleague of the alleged victim, as a person of interest, the paper said. Braunstein, 41, and the woman used to work at the same fashion publication several years ago.

Braunstein has been interviewed about fashion on CNN, and has made the New York gossip pages in the past for bizarre behavior. Just this year, he was convicted of menacing a former girlfriend after he bound her with tape, the paper reported.

Braunstein's father is asking for his son to turn himself in.

"He cannot defend himself for running away, and if he needs help we'd like to be able to help him," Alberto Braunstein said.

There are reports Braunstein has been seen in New York City in the last few days, but police have been unable to find him.

The woman was treated for burns on her face from chemicals used in the attack, and released.