89-year-old woman attacked while sitting on Brooklyn stoop; NYPD searching for suspect

KENSINGTON (WABC) -- With tears rolling down her cheeks Monday night, Barija Mati could barely get the words out. In two minutes, she told Eyewitness News that she could have been dead.

The 89-year-old great-grandmother lives with her son, Luftim, the super of a building in the Kensington section of Brooklyn. Over the weekend, Mati was watching the world go by on her stoop, when police say a man walked up to her, and without a word, attacked. She tried to go up the steps, but the man then pushes her on the landing, grabs her, and drags her inside.

The attack happened in broad daylight this past Saturday after eyewitnesses say the man first approached a mother pushing a baby's stroller near the corner of Ditmas and McDonald.

Jose Ortiz says the attacker just didn't seem right.

"He tried grabbing her by the throat, and that's when she kicked him and threw punches at him," Ortiz said through a translator.

When Ortiz approached, the suspect ran up Ditmas and turned right on second, where Mati was sitting in her chair. As she struggled to escape up the front steps, cops say he took off his sweatshirt and tried to strangle her as she screamed for help.

Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call (800) 577-TIPS (8477)