Shocking moment 81-year-old woman is punched in the head by stranger as she walked dog
Disturbing video captured the moment an 81-year-old woman was randomly punched in the head by a stranger on a New York City street as she walked her dog.
The woman, only identified as Gloria, was outside on West 66th Street and Amsterdam Avenue when she was hit just after 7pm on Friday.
Surveillance footage captured the twisted act of a man wearing black pants and shirt striking Gloria as her dog sniffed along the building.
He delivered one powerful blow to the side of her head, knocking her against the nearby wall before she fell to the ground.
Onlookers rushed to help and Gloria was quickly rushed to hospital, suffering from a concussion and numerous injuries.
'My neck was almost as fat as my face. My nose is broken, you can see the swelling,' Gloria told FOX 5 NY.
A woman, only identified as Gloria, was walking her dog outside of her Upper West Side apartment when a stranger attacked her
He knocked Gloria over with the punch and walked away as she laid still on the ground
'When he knocked me, I hit my nose [on the wall] and then I fell down,' Gloria said.
At first, the attacker walked past Gloria who had her back to him as she tended to her dog.
But he turned around and made his way back to her to inflict the heartless act of violence.
'That's the scary part, [it happened] in front of my building,' she said. 'I didn't want to see the tape and maybe because I feel so lucky, because he could have had a knife.'
The woman was left with purple and yellow bruises across her face and upper body, but said she wants her attacker to get mental health help and not jail time.
'It was not against me. He is sick and he did not really rob me. He did not take anything. He just hit me for no good reason,' she said.
This incident is the latest in a growing number of assaults across the Big Apple.
The suspect (pictured) wearing black pants and shirt walked past Gloria at first
The 81-year-old woman was covered in bruises from numerous injuries and suffered a concussion
Felony assault is up 4.8 percent year-to-date and misdemeanor assault is up 9 percent, according to New York Police Department data.
Earlier this year, a string of women reported getting hit by random strangers on the streets across the city.
Two men were charged in separate incidents in March that were the subject of recent TikTok videos in which female victims said they were randomly struck.
On March 27, cops arrested 40-year-old Skiboky Stora, a fringe, failed gubernatorial candidate who they say assaulted TikTok influencer Halley Kate Mcgookin near West 16th Street and Seventh on March 25.
The next day, cops arrested Mallik Miah, a 30-year-old Brooklyn man charged with assaulting TikToker Mikayla Toninato in Greenwich Village on March 25.
The 27-year-old student at the Parsons School of Design was near Fifth Avenue and East 12th when she was struck at about 2pm.
Toninato, as several other alleged victims have, posted a video to the social media platform right after being punched.
Cops arrested a failed gubernatorial candidate who they say assaulted TikTok influencer Halley Kate Mcgookin (pictured) near West 16th Street and Seventh on March 25
On March 17 at 11:48 am at Kenmare and Mulberry Streets, 25-year-old TikToker Olivia Brand said she was struck by a man who initially apologized to her.
'He goes "sorry" and punches me in the head,' she says in a video posted that day. 'What the hell is happening?'
A 36-year-old woman was then punched in the back on March 25 at 10:15am, while walking at Rivington and Chrystie Streets on the Lower East Side, cops said.
The next day, around noon, a 24-year-old woman was attacked by a man who slammed the left side of her head with his elbow while she traversed Seventh Avenue near 39th Street, the NYPD confirmed.
That same day, a 24-year-old woman was hit in the head by a stranger in the Flatiron District, police said.
