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Pregnant Woman Says She Was Attacked For Not Saying 'Thank You' In Chelsea Housing Complex

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A pregnant woman said she was attacked and beaten last week by a man who was angry that she didn't say "thank you" when he held the door for her at a Chelsea public housing building.

Police late Friday identified a suspect in the attack.

Lakeeya Walker, 22, is seven weeks pregnant. She works as a caretaker at the Chelsea-Elliot Houses, and was walking into the building at 428 W. 26th St. on the morning of March 5, 1010 WINS reported.

Walker said she was going into the building using her key, but the man volunteered to open the door for him.

"Once I entered the building, I didn't say anything to him. He was mad that I didn't say thank you, so he called me an ungrateful b***h," Walker said.

Walker said she told the man she did not need him to hold the door, and said he did not need to speak to her in such a fashion.

"Then he takes his cup of coffee – he was drinking a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee – and he throws it at me in my face," Walker said.

Walker said after that, the man dragged her out and put her up against a gate.

"He then choked me with one hand and then started hitting me repeatedly with the other," she said.

Police said when Walker tried to get away, the assailant threw her to the ground.

"When he felt good and ready, he pulled me off the gate. He threw me on the floor like a WWE mat, while laying on my back. My feet is in the air. I'm kicking, kicking, kicking, trying to, like, protect myself. He's kicking me on the stomach, and while he's doing this, he says to me, 'I'm going to kick that baby out your womb,'" she said.

Walker said she could have been more seriously hurt than she was.

"I'm really little. My arms were already weak from shoveling the snow, and then to have to go through an assault like this was ridiculous. And I just felt as though, protect yourself. Fight with your all and protect yourself," she said. "And this man, like, he's really, really big. He could have put me in a worse condition than I was already in."

Walker was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital following the attack with bruising and swelling to her face, sources told CBS2.

"The doctor told me that I had a blood clot by the baby's head. He said the blood clot could go away, but as of now, there's a blood clot by the baby's head, and I was in sobs," she said.

City Councilman Corey Johnson (D-3rd) released a statement expressing horror at the attack.

"I'm horrified to learn that a pregnant woman was assaulted in my district. Cowardly and disgusting acts of violence such as this have no place in our neighborhood. The person who committed this act does not represent the families I know at Chelsea-Elliott houses," Johnson said in the statement. "Violence against women is an epidemic in our city. My thoughts are with the young woman who was attacked, and I hope the New York Police Department and Manhattan District Attorney will bring justice to the person who committed this horrendous act."

Darryl Guillyard
Darryl Guillyard, 32, has been identified as a suspect in an attack on a pregnant woman in the Chelsea-Elliot houses development. (Credit: NYPD)

Police late Friday identified Darryl Guillyard as a suspect in the incident. Guillyard is 32 years old, stands 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighs 190 pounds, police said.

Police released an image of Guillyard from a 2007 arrest for an alleged gunpoint robbery in the Chelsea area.

Anyone with information on Guillyard's whereabouts was asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, log onto the Crime Stoppers website, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIP577.

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