57-Year-Old Bronx Woman Savagely Beaten, Robbed In Building Elevator
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A vicious and terrifying elevator attack on a woman in the Bronx was caught on video.
CBS 2's Jessica Schneider spoke to the victim on Friday.
"He took me like that and covered my mouth and he punched my eyes and throw me on floor and he punched me here," 57-year-old Carmen Nieves said, sporting a black eye.
The vicious attack took place Thursday morning in her Claremont apartment building. She said she had just arrived back home from getting groceries at 9:30 a.m. when the nightmare unfolded.
She said she saw the man pacing in the small lobby area. Police said he'd been there for 10 minutes. On the video, when he sees Nieves, he gets onto the elevator with her. She presses the button for her floor. He then presses the button for the floor one below.
He gets out, but then proceeds to run up the stairs.
When the elevator door opens again the suspect rushes through the doors before the Nieves can get out, and he attacks, ripping off her jewelry and robbing her.
"My ring, my chains, my earrings, and money, $45," Nieves said.
After beating her and taking all of her personal items from her, the suspect stops, gets out of the elevator and takes off, but he leaves Nieves on the floor of the elevator car, bleeding, now with a black eye and frightened for her life.
"[I was] very scared," Nieves said, adding she's fearful of ever entering the elevator again.
People who have seen the video or heard about the random violence said they were horrified.
"It scares me for the elderly people and other women in the area," Ana Vidot said.
The suspect is described as a black male between 17 and 20 years old, approximately 5-foot-11, with a thin build, and wearing a black Polo jacket, black sweat pants and a black hat with a red stripe.
Nieves was treated at St. Barnabas Hospital, but said she now needs to find the money to replace her eyeglasses, which were destroyed in the attack. Numerous people called the CBS 2 newsroom on Friday night offering to help the woman get new glasses.
The police investigation is ongoing.
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