Exclusive: 91-year-old man fights off would-be mugger in Upper East Side attack
UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- The 91-year-old victim of a brutal attack on the Upper East Side is speaking out exclusively to Eyewitness News.
He said he was on his way home from the grocery store when he was targeted by someone trying to steal his wallet.
It happened on East 86th Street between First and Second avenues around 10:30 p.m. last Thursday.
The attacker pushed the 91-year-old man to the ground and punched him while trying to take his wallet.
"He said 'I'm from Coney Island,' he wasn't going to get my wallet,' that's what he said," said the victim's son, James Silverglad.
The victim, Hyman Silverglad, who is a retired attorney, threw the would-be robber off his game and held onto his wallet.
Silverglad was taken to the hospital with severe injuries. On Wednesday, he spoke to Eyewitness News over the phone.
"I cannot walk, I'm in never-ending constant pain," he explained. "I had fight for my life. Who wouldn't put up a good fight."
Silverglad said the suspected pounced without warning and never said a word.
"He threw me to the ground and I have suffered at least six fractures, very bad fractures and I'm in agony," Silverglad said.
Silverglad still has a lot of spunk and he earned an impressive reputation as a pro-bono attorney who helped people in need of legal representation but couldn't afford it.
"He called himself the lawyer of last resort ,that if you couldn't get anybody else, you could get him, and that's a direct quote," the victim's son said.
The suspect took off on Second Avenue. Police released photos of the man wanted in the attack in the hopes of making an arrest.
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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