71-year-old man punched, falls down stairs in New York City robbery
HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- It was a violent attack out of nowhere - a 71-year-old says he was punched, robbed and shoved down a flight of stairs by a stranger in Harlem.
The victim, who wants to remain anonymous was punched so hard that he lost clear vision in his left eye. He is just starting to regain clear vision two weeks later.
"Something tapped me on the shoulder, pushed past me, spun me around and hit me in the face down the stairs," he said.
Police say the victim was punched multiple times and then thrown down these stairs in his building on West 133rd Street in Harlem in the middle of the afternoon two Fridays ago.
The victim says the tumble bruised his back so badly that he had trouble walking for days. He barely remembers being shoved.
"My feet are above my head, because my head is on the landing, and he said something about wallets and he went straight for my right hand picket and yanked the wallet out of my pocket," he said.
The victim says his assailant followed him home. Residents say a lock was broken at the time and that's how the suspect got inside.
Right after the attack, residents say the lock was fixed.
There was $160 cash in the victim's wallet, along with his IDs and credit cards.
The victim is now constantly looking over his shoulder.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
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