Riots fueled in part by drastic cuts to social service.
Police have released more surveillance footage of a robber who they say has been preying on elderly residents in Brooklyn and Queens, providing the clearest images yet of the attacker.
Police released new video Thursday that shows the suspect walking down the sidewalk near the scene of an attack Saturday in Brooklyn that left an 83-year-old woman with injuries to her face.
Police say the suspect struck the woman at her Kensington residence, but didn't rob her.
The elderly victim, Erin Van Schendel, told NBC 4 New York that the mugger followed her into her house and pistol whipped her.
"I guess I just got socked in the face. I don't remember really very much," she said.
Police released additional photos of the suspect on Sunday, a day after the Kensington attack.
The suspect struck before that on March 19 at about 5:15 p.m. near the corner of Prospect Place and Carlton Avenue in Brooklyn. He followed a man to his residence and robbed him. He then spotted an 81-year-old woman and robbed her at gunpoint, police said. He fled with about $330.
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On March 2, the suspect, armed with a handgun, grabbed a 91-year-old woman from behind and put her in a choke-hold, police said. He pushed her into the vestibule of the building she was about to enter on Ninth Street in Brooklyn and encountered a 50-year-old man. He robbed both at gunpoint and fled with about $370 dollars, investigators said.
“He pushed me. ‘Give me the money.’ Choking me… three times. ‘Give me the money,’” the 91-year-old woman told reporters earlier this month.
The same man is wanted for a Feb. 11 robbery of a 71-year-old woman in the vicinity of Prospect Place and Sixth Avenue in Brooklyn. He hit her in the face and made off with $375.
The woman's neighbor said that the victim is physically OK, but is still very scared.
He is also accused of robbing a 76-year-old woman and an 87-year-old man at knife-point on Jan. 20 in Queens. He fled with about $800, police said.
In the wake of the attacks in Park Slope, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams went to a senior center to educate elderly people about security.
Anyone with information about the suspect should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
