2 arrested; Elderly victim speaks after brutal assault in West Village
WEST VILLAGE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Police in the West Village arrested a man and woman for the brutally beating of an elderly man in the West Village.
20-year-old Deangelo Coleman of Chicago is facing two charges of assault. 19-year-old Brianna Crusade, who is apparently homeless, is facing one charge of grand larceny.
It happened on Wednesday at around 2:15 p.m. outside the Salvation Army on West 14th Street.
He has bruises under eyes and five stitches in his head, but the 75-year-old man who was beaten and kicked unconscious in the West Village Wednesday, thankfully barely remembers it.
"I didn't know anything until the policemen come and the ambulance. I didn't know what happened," said Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed, the attack victim.
He says there was at least one person who helped him as he was laying there on West 14th Street.
"A gentleman, a good man, said, 'Don't worry about it, I will stay with you until the ambulance comes," Ahmed said.
Meanwhile, despite the fact that this is such a busy block and that the attack happened in broad daylight, no one was able to stop the attacker or, his alleged accomplice.
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Police say Crusade was walking with Coleman and acted as a lookout.
"It was a particularly vicious assault. The elderly male was struck in the back of the head, fell to the ground, and kicked several times when he was down," said Det. Patrick Conry, NYPD.
Chris Dye had just gotten off work and witnessed it and then tried his best to help.
"The guy was hitting on a guy, older guy, for what reason I don't know, but I saw the guy hit the ground, then the guy turns back around and kicked the guy in the head," Dye said. "So being I couldn't do nothing about that, I tried to follow the people to see where they was going."
"So, you're chasing after them?" Eyewitness News asked.
"Yeah I'm chasing after them by myself," Dye said.
"No one was helping you chase them down?" Eyewitness News asked.
"No, everybody was standing around looking," Dye said.
"How far were you able to follow them?" Eyewitness News asked.
"Two blocks," Dye said.
Dye told Eyewitness News, he was also just hoping to spot a police officer.
"I finally turned around and saw the police sitting in the Dairy Queen but it was too late," Dye said.
Meanwhile, Ahmed of Brooklyn is now recovering. It should be welcome news that the two believed to be responsible are now in police custody.
"I'm all right. I'm OK, God bless America. You have some bad people, but what are you going to do?" Ahmed said.
Residents on this mostly commercial block are disgusted.
"In this neighborhood they leave you on the street. That's how it is, nobody wants to get involved around here," said Carol Rodriguez, a resident.
