The man accused of raping a jogger in Central Park was indicted over the shocking daytime attack and will be arraigned on the charges next month, authorities said Friday.
Paulie Velez, 25, didn’t appear in court Friday during a brief scheduling hearing in his case, but the accused has been indicted on sealed charges, which will be unveiled at his next arraignment Dec. 20, officials said.
Velez is also set to return to court Dec. 13 in connection with a fugitive warrant out of Florida, where he allegedly ditched a court appearance on criminal charges in an unrelated sex case.
Velez was accused of kidnapping and sex assault in Miami in February 2020 in a case in which a plea deal was struck, police sources previously told The Post. But Velez dismantled his ankle bracelet and fled the Sunshine State ahead of a scheduled court appearance before he committed the rape last week, prosecutors said.
Cops have said Velez approached his 27-year-old victim in Central Park as she ran on a footpath near Swan Lake in the morning. He put her in a chokehold until she lost consciousness and took her phone after he raped her, cops alleged.
He was busted two days later, after cops knocked on the door of his mother’s home in Howard Beach, Queens, police and sources said. Velez tried to run and leaped into a “body of water” to try to shake cops before he was taken into custody, authorities said.
The accused man also has convictions in Pennsylvania and Las Vegas, prosecutors said.
Velez’s lawyer, Chelsey Amelkin of Legal Aid, didn’t respond to a request from comment from The Post.