Elderly woman thrown to ground, robbed in Bronx building lobby
PELHAM BAY, Bronx (WABC) -- An elderly woman was attacked, violently thrown to the ground, and robbed in the lobby of her Bronx apartment building, and the harrowing incident was caught on surveillance video.
The 76-year-old woman was attacked while she was entering her apartment building in Pelham Bay around 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
The video released by police shows three people pushing their way into the building.
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After gaining access to the building, one of the robbers pulled the victims hair, while the second individual pulled her purse and forcibly swung her around until she fell to the ground.
Raw Video released by police:
The thieves took her purse, which contained $50, a wallet, a debit card, and insurance cards.
The victim sustained a fractured hip and was taken to Jacobi Hospital.
Her son says she is a very active woman but that she might not ever be able to live the life she desires after needing a hip replacement.
"Who does something like that?" said the son, Sean, who didn't want his last name used. "She's very independent, and she wants to be able to do her own thing. And she was out dancing with her friends that night because that's on her favorite things to do."
She will need months of rehab, and even then, a full recovery isn't guaranteed.
"There's a chance that she needs a walker for the rest of her life," Sean said. "For somebody like her, that's terrible."
The attackers ran away, and authorities are hoping the surveillance video leads to arrests.
Benny Santiago is a neighbor and friend who called 911.
"She seen them in front of Walgreens, and she was walking home through the lot, I guess, and they followed her," he said. "Doesn't make sense. I'm born and raised in New York. It just doesn't make sense."
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Sean said that while his mother is shaken up, she is determined to getting back to living her very active life.
"Your actions have consequences, and they have consequences for other people," he said. "People get hurt, and one moment, it can affect someone for the rest of your life."
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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