The 81-year-old woman who was repeatedly punched during a robbery in her Manhattan apartment building's lobby wants to warn others. Barbara Davidsond told WCBS 2, "I was an easy mark. I was just about ready to put the key in the door when I felt the, really, big blow on my head... Just be careful people, because you just don’t know. One of the things I can say is, especially to women who are older, just kind of watch out."
On Friday night, around 6:50 p.m., police say that a male suspect followed Davidson, an actress, into her Greenwich Village building, near 13th Street and 7th Avenue. Security camera footage shows Davidson opening the second door of the building vestibule and the suspect punching her and then stealing her purse:
"It happened so fast," she recalled to the Post. "I was coming up the stairs with the keys in my hand ready to get in the door when I felt two blows to both sides of my face close to the eyes."
Davidson, who suffered bumps and bruises to the face, has seen the video, "They got a good shot of him pounding me in the face. I was surprised when I saw the actual footage at how many times he pounded me."
According to the Daily News, other surveillance footage shows that the suspect was apparently "stalking" Davidson on the street. Building super Arleen Gonzalez said, "He passed her by, then looked if everything was clear, then came back and put the (hoodie) on." She added, "You’d have to be a slug to take advantage of someone that could be your grandmother."
Davidson praised her neighbors, who came to her aid after she yelled for help. She was also generous towards her attacker, telling the News, "There’s a lot of desperation out there. I don’t have any malice against this person."
Anyone with information in regards 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). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
