Bedford-Stuyvesant

Bushwick man gets 15 years for raping and robbing woman at knifepoint

July 23, 2020 Rob Abruzzese
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A 25-year-old man from Bushwick will spend the next 15 years of his life behind bars after he pleaded guilty to raping and robbing a woman after he dragged her into an alleyway at knifepoint in 2018.

Thomas Gallishaw was sentenced by Justice Matthew D’Emic, the administrative judge of the Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, to 15 years in prison plus 10 years of post-release supervision after he pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree robbery on July 1. He must register as a sex offender when he is released from prison.

“The defendant’s guilty plea spared the victim from testifying in court about this horrific attack and the sentence imposed holds him accountable for his actions,” said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “I am committed to bringing to justice sexual predators like this defendant who commit such brutal acts of violence against women.”

Thomas Gallishaw. Photo courtesy of the DA’s Office

According to the District Attorney’s Office, Gallishaw targeted his 23-year-old victim in front of 28 Stuyvesant Ave. in Bushwick and followed her as she walked to a nearby laundromat at approximately 10:30 p.m. on June 12, 2018.

Gallishaw placed his arm around his victim’s neck and put a knife to her throat as he dragged her into an alleyway behind the building, threw her to the ground and raped her, the DA’s Office said.

There was a brief interaction between Gallishaw and police before he fled the scene with the victim’s phone and purse. Cops quickly apprehended him using a GPS-location app on the victim’s phone. The phone and knife were recovered on the defendant when apprehended.

Gallishaw, who was out on parole for an unrelated robbery at the time of the incident, had allegedly attacked another woman that same night. Approximately 45 minutes earlier, on Kosciuszko Street and Nostrand Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, he allegedly approached a victim from behind with a knife, threw her to the ground and climbed on top of her before another person interceded.

Authorities told the New York Post at the time of the incident that they believed that Gallishaw was involved in at least 17 other sexual assault robberies in Brooklyn.

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