NEW YORK - Police have made an arrest in the assault and attempted rape of a woman on a subway platform on Manhattan's Upper East Side over the weekend.

It happened around 11 a.m Saturday at the Lexington and 63rd Street station. 

The NYPD says officers arrested Jose Reyes, 31, near Lexington Avenue and East 105th Street Sunday afternoon.

Investigators say Reyes and the 25-year-old woman were both onboard an "F" train on Saturday.

The victim told officers he was smoking some type of hookah and laughing to himself. 

"They were both on the F train, she got off first, he followed her. She tried to evade him. He continued to follow her after that. At which time he assaulted her and then got on top of her tried to spread her legs in an attempt to rape her," said NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodnet Harrison.

Reyes responded to reporters as police took him to his arraignment on Sunday.

Reporter: Why did you attack her?

Reyes: She wanted to get attacked in the ----.

Reporter: She wanted to get attacked?

Reyes: Yes.

Reporter: Why would she want to get attacked?

Reyes: Because she's a female.

Reyes has more than a dozen prior arrests, including three in the transit system.

The NYPD says bystanders who filmed the incident on their cellphones helped lead to his arrest.

Police used facial recognition technology from his previous mugshot to link his photo to the cell phone video.

The woman suffered minor injuries and refused medical attention.