New Yorker's plea to Democrats goes viral after a woman is raped in front of his art gallery: 'Vote Republican ... We urgently and desperately need change.'

A New York City resident's plea on Twitter to his fellow New Yorkers to vote Republican went viral over a horrible crime that occurred in front of his business.

Eli Klein tweeted about the incident Thursday after a woman told police she had been attacked and raped while jogging in the morning.

"A woman was raped, beaten and robbed across the street from my NYC art gallery this morning. She was just jogging when she was attacked by a stranger from behind," he tweeted.

"Please, my fellow New York Democrats, vote Republican, at least this once. We urgently and desperately need change," he added.

The tweet garnered 9.5k likes.

Klein was apparently referring to a 43-year-old woman who told the New York Police Department she had been raped during an attack at about 5:30 a.m. Police said he raped her, stole her phone and wallet, and fled the scene on a bicycle.

The police later announced they had arrested a 29-year-old suspect.

"Police have arrested a homeless man named Carl Phanor in connection with this brutal rape. Phanor is also suspected of choking, robbing & sexually assaulting two other women in NYC back in March & October. Phanor had been arrested 18 times, so should not have been on the streets," Klein said in a second tweet.

Police said that the 48-year-old victim in the October incident had been able to fight her attacker off before she was raped. They also confirmed that his last known address was a homeless shelter and that he had been arrested 18 times prior to the latest accusations.

Gabrielle Sumkin told WCBS-TV that she was the jogger that called the police after encountering the victim soon after the assault. She said she didn't know the victim had been raped until news reports later.

"It's disgusting. I'm a staunch feminist. I support women," she told WCBS. "People who commit crimes like that are at the absolute bottom of my list."

Voters say that crime is one of the issues most concerning to them for the midterm elections. New York state residents are also voting for governor in an election between the incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, and Rep. Lee Zeldin, a state legislator and Republican.

Here's more about the horrible assault:

Jogger raped and robbed at Hudson River Parkwww.youtube.com