79-year-old man knocked unconscious in Flatbush; suspect on loose
FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Police are searching for the man who attacked an elderly man in Brooklyn on Monday night, causing him to fall to the ground and lose consciousness.
Saleh Yahya had just bought some food, but the next thing he remembers was waking up in the hospital.
On Friday, he spoke from his bed at Kings County Hospital where he remains in a lot of pain.
Yahya, 79, was walking on Flatbush Avenue just before 11 p.m. when he was approached by a man who kicked him in the face.
The attacker ran away from the scene.
"I feel bad," said Yahya. "Very bad. I can't even move."
Yahya was transported to NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County Hospital where it was his friend who told him he was pushed.
He suffered four fractured ribs, an injured spleen, a cut on his head and pain in his face.
Yahya remains in critical condition, but residents in Prospect Lefferts Gardens are on edge by the seemingly random assault and the violence that continues to plague the city.
"That could be somebody's grandfather, somebody's father, somebody's brother," said Brooklyn resident Jean Remarque. "And imagine if I was one ours that this happened to? The elders need to be protected."
Yahya told Eyewitness News he doesn't know when he will be released from the hospital, nor does he have any family to take care of him.
Anyone with information in regard to the incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
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