Exclusive: Victim slashed in mugging near South Street Seaport speaks out
LOWER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A woman who was slashed in the hand by a man who stole her purse in Lower Manhattan Monday night spoke exclusively to Eyewitness News.
Authorities say the 25-year-old victim, who works as a bartender and whose identity we are withholding until an arrest is made, was mugged while walking to meet friends on Water Street near the South Street Seaport around 7:45 p.m.
"At first I thought it was someone I knew playing a joke on me," she said. "And then I saw he pulled out a knife."
She said she felt a tug on her purse before realizing there was a knife being held at her throat. The suspect told her to give him the bag, and she complied.
"When I saw that he had the blade, I didn't know what else he was capable of," she said. "So I just gave it to him and left. That was replaceable, but if he hurt me, that would've been awful."
A look at surveillance video:
The suspect grabbed the bag and slashed the woman's right hand. The purse contained cash, bank cards and a pair of glasses. The suspect fled the scene.
She has no idea why the suspect targeted her.
"I was walking, he saw an opportunity, and he took it," she said. "It's definitely a little shocking and taking me a little bit of time to calm down and process everything. Just one step at a time, need to fix everything that he stole from me."
The victim required eight stitches to her hand at New York Downtown Hospital, and later this week, she will require surgery to repair a severed tendon near her thumb.
The suspect is described as a white male about 30, standing 5-foot-8 and weighing about 160 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark blue hoodie, blue jeans, black shoes and possibly a dark cap.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
