He was on a sex-attack spree that day, officials say.
The tattooed transient accused of violently raping a 73-year-old birdwatcher near Strawberry Fields marched straight from that attack to the Upper West Side, where he sexually fondled two other women on the street, prosecutors now say.
The new charges were revealed as David Albert Mitchell barked the words “Not guilty” at his arraignment today.
Mitchell remained rear-cuffed in his orange jail jumpsuit as he sat at a defense table in Manhattan Supreme Court and pleaded not guilty to first-degree charges of raping, sodomizing, robbing, beating, choking and robbing the bird watcher just before noon on Sept. 12.
He also pleaded not guilty to groping a second woman on West 70th Street and Broadway at 1:15 p.m. that same day, and then a third woman on West 71st Street and Broadway. Prosecutors did not release those two women’s age or specifics on the attacks.
“Those are condoms,” the crass career sex criminal told his arresting officers that same night, as they confronted him on West 78th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
“I use them to f— women in the vagina,” he allegedly said, according to police statements released after the arraignment. “I’m homeless. I sleep in the park.”
Of the camera case he allegedly stole from the birdwatcher, Mitchell claimed, “I found that on a bench by the trash.”
Late, in a transport van, he told officers, “I’m going to spit in your face. I’m going to punch you in the face. I’m going to s— and piss in the van.”
The Jenkinjones, W. Va., native had spent most of his life behind bars for preying upon two elderly women — including kidnapping and sex abuse charges — before he relocated to Central Park.
Cops believe Mitchell beat, raped and robbed the Central Park victim in retaliation for her taking a picture of him masturbating a month earlier, on August 20. He had confronted her at the time, demanding she give up her “film,” but she fled.
Mitchell is additionally charged with public lewdness for that August 20 incident.
On the day of the rape, Mitchell allegedly sneaked up behind her and asked, “Do you remember me?” before throwing her to the ground, pounding her head into the dirt before violating her, officials said.
Mitchell also pleaded not guilty today to allegedly threatening a fellow park-goer with a knige on August 20, again near Strawberry Field. In that case, Mitchell allegedly threatened to fill the circular Imagine mosaic with the victim’s blood.
The rape charges carry a potential maximum prison sentence of 25 years.
“Any sexual assault is unacceptable, but one that occurred in broad daylight in a public place is particularly shocking,” said District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. “We thank the victim for her courage, and for her assistance in the investigation, and we thank the NYPD for its swift apprehension of the suspect, which led to today’s indictment.”