Distressing footage shows a mugger chase an elderly can collector through a Brooklyn neighborhood beloved by celebrities before punching her and trying to wrestle her bag from her.
The surveillance camera footage – shared by the NYPD – shows the 65 year-old woman being chased down St Edwards Street and Willoughby Avenue in Fort Greene at 4:40pm on September 28, with the hooded mugger in hot pursuit.
She was seen running onto the road in a bid to escape his clutches, with the mugger – whose face was partially covered with a mask – punching the woman as he tried to wrestle her handbag from her.
The incident happened on the edge of Fort Greene Park, widely regarded as one of Brooklyn – and New York’s – ritziest neighborhoods, with median house prices of $1.1 million.
Fort Greene’s leafy avenues are lined with immaculate brownstones, with celebrity residents including of the area including movie stars Christina Ricci, Adrian Grenier, Holly Hunter and supermodel Alek Wek.
The would-be mugger drags and punches elderly woman in broad daylight
On Thursday, video was released depicting the victim running into the street to avoid the man — who ultimately ran after her
After the assailant catches up to the woman, a struggle immediately ensues in the middle of the street
Moments after collecting money she earned from picking up cans, the 65-year-old victim was approached by the assailant on his bike at St. Edwards and Willoughby streets in Fort Greene
Despite the ferocious and distressing assault, the woman clings on to her bag, with the mugger eventually fleeing on realizing he was not going to be able to seize it off her.
He was filmed swinging at his victim again, only for her to duck out of the way, with the woman seen clutching her head in apparent pain from an earlier blow that did land successfully.
Several people are seen passing the street and sidewalk as the incident occurred, including two people who stood feet away as the incident unfolded.
Footage of the incident shows the suspect repeatedly yanking at the woman’s purse, while she refuses to let go
The woman suffered swelling to her face, in addition to back pain and cuts on her body. She was transported nearby to Brooklyn Hospital Center where she remains in stable condition.
Crime rates within New York have escalated tremendously. NYPD data shows crime rose 2.6% overall in September, with assaults climbing 18.5 percent and robberies up 6 percent.
The biggest increase was for felonious assault – or assault with a dangerous weapon – which surged by a shocking 18.5 percent from 1,802 in September 2020 to 2,135 in September 2021, as New Yorkers have been plagued by random attacks in the streets of the city.
Violent crime continues to spike in NYC as Bill de Blasio tries to lure office workers and tourists back: Assaults up 19% and robberies increased 6% in September as NYPD makes more than 3,400 gun arrests in 2021
Violent crime has continued to escalate in New York City, with assaults climbing 18.5 percent and robberies up 6 percent in September as the NYPD revealed it has made more than 3,400 gun arrests so far this year.
Stark data released by the NYPD Wednesday shows crime rose 2.6 percent overall in September 2021 compared to the same month in 2020, with an extra 243 incidents reported.
It comes as Mayor Bill de Blasio tries to lure tourists and office workers back to the COVID-ravaged Big Apple, with the data likely to deter many over personal safety concerns.
The biggest increase was for felonious assault – or assault with a dangerous weapon – which surged by a shocking 18.5 percent from 1,802 in September 2020 to 2,135 in September 2021, as New Yorkers have been plagued by random attacks in the streets of the city.
The data also reveals a concerning trend in other criminal activity, with robberies up 6 percent, car theft up 4.1 percent and grand larceny up .7 percent within the same timeframe.
Over the last year, New York has been rocked by a wave of violent crime, fueling fears it is returning to the dark days of the ’70s and ’80s when murders were rife and the Big Apple earned the nickname Fear City.
A map showing the New York City boroughs where crime has increased (in red) and decreased (in green) in September 2021 compared to the same month last year
This prompted former state Governor Andrew Cuomo to take the unprecedented step of launching the nation’s first ever state of emergency over gun violence back in July.
But now, the situation appears to be getting even worse with a staggering 393 gun arrests made last month alone, bringing the total number of gun arrests to 3,425 between January and the end of September.
This is a dramatic increase of 20.9 percent from the same period in 2020 when 2,832 gun arrests were made.
Last year, the city and the nation was reeling from COVID-19, civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd and political turmoil in the run-up to the presidential election.
Now, COVID-19 restrictions have almost all lifted, the US’s borders are poised to reopen to major tourist destinations and Mayor Bill de Blasio is trying to lure back office workers to the city.
Yet, violent and horrific subway attacks and gang-related gun battles are still a common occurrence in the streets of the city.
Some boroughs have been ravaged by the crime wave more than others, with Manhattan South recording the biggest spike in crime (20.1 percent) last month compared to the previous September.
Violent crime has continued to escalate in New York City, with total crime up 2.6% in September 2021 compared to September 2020
Manhattan North has also seen a rise in crime, up by 3.2 percent in the same timeframe.
Brooklyn South saw crime spike by 5.3 percent, Staten Island by 9 percent and the Bronx – where a terrifying gun fight broke out between gangs last month – by 4.9 percent.
The NYPD released footage this week of a September 16 gun battle between seven alleged gang members, firing at an unidentified target across the street before running off down the street in the Morrisania section of the Bronx.
Crime has, however, fallen in some boroughs of the city, down by 4.2 percent in Brooklyn North, 5.8 percent in Queens North.
In Queens South, crime fell 3.7 percent between the two months – even though there were six murders recorded there last month.
Despite the rise in some violent offenses, NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea hailed the fall in murders and shootings last month.
Murders fell by 22 percent from 59 in September 2020 to 46 last month, while shootings were down 9.3 percent from 150 to 136.
Mayor Bill de Blasio touted the rise in gun arrests as an ‘extraordinary success’ Wednesday rather than a concerning sign of a rise in firearm use
Burglaries also fell by 14.9 percent and rapes by 12.4 percent between the two timeframes.
Shea said in a statement that this is part of a wider fall in some violent crimes from the summer as the city focuses on curtailing gun violence.
‘The ongoing, downward trend in violence reflects the hard and often dangerous work of the men and women of the NYPD,’ said Shea.
‘And while I applaud their courage and tenacity, the police cannot do this alone. Public safety must be a collective mission.
‘It requires intelligence-based policing, but it also requires a fully functioning court system and meaningful consequences that send a clear message to those who would pull a trigger: expect to be caught, and expect to be held accountable.’
De Blasio also gave an optimistic outlook of the new crime figures in his press briefing Wednesday morning.
The mayor touted the rise in gun arrests as an ‘extraordinary success’ Wednesday rather than a concerning sign of a rise in firearm use.
The NYPD released footage this week of a September 16 gun battle between seven alleged gang members, firing at an unidentified target across the street before running off down the street in the Morrisania section of the Bronx
‘It’s a typical thing out there for certain folks to doubt New York City, or to doubt our ability to make a comeback, or doubt the NYPD, but the facts speak for themselves,’ he said.
‘Even in the most extraordinarily difficult circumstances – total disruption of our society because of a global pandemic, unprecedented – the NYPD has fought back, neighborhood folks have fought back, the city has fought back and we’re seeing it in so many ways.’
He added: ‘We’re seeing the city come back to life.’
The mayor said several crimes such as robbery and felony crime are currently at the lowest rate in the last three decades on a year-to-date basis.
And de Blasio said things will improve further as the city continues to come back to life – through a return of tourism and workers returning to their offices.
That is part of his ‘safety in numbers’ theory, where larger crowds of people gathering are likely to deter opportunistic criminals from carrying out attacks.
Yet, the tourist hotspots have been at the center of some of the violence of late.
Times Square – known for its flashing billboards and bright lights which draw in around 50 million visitors every year – has been the site of three shootings and a horrifying incident where a woman pushed a bystander in front of a subway train.
Shocking surveillance footage taken this Monday shows a woman jump up from a bench and shove the female victim as a train hurtled into the station.
Anthonia Egegbara, 29, of Queens, was charged with attempted murder Tuesday over the incident. The victim Lenny Javier, 42, suffered a broken nose and chin but luckily survived.
Historic crime data shows how crime fell from the 1990s and has inched up in recent years
This came just hours before a man shot himself in the leg in that same subway station.
Back in May, three innocent bystanders, including a four-year-old girl, were also shot by stray bullets in Times Square when a man started shooting indiscriminately in the middle of the day during an argument with someone else.
The young girl was struck in the leg, a 24-year-old woman was hit in her thigh and a 44-year-old woman was shot in the foot.
All survived the shooting, which sent shoppers and tourists fleeing for their lives.
In June, US Marine Samuel Poulin was shot in the back in the tourist hotspot.
He was walking through the area with his family when he was randomly struck by a stray bullet from an altercation involving other people. Poulin was not seriously injured.
The mayoral candidate frontrunner Eric Adams has vowed to tackle the escalating violence when de Blasio leaves office at the end of this term.
On Tuesday, he said his first focus will be to crack down on guns entering the city.
His other plans include the creation of a dedicated plain-clothed anti-gun violence unit in the NYPD.