Woman Speaks Out: Says Man Punched Her, Kicked At Her Dog In Chelsea

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A victim spoke out Thursday night about a terrifying attack that happened when she took her dog out for a walk in Chelsea recently.

Police on Thursday also released new surveillance video in the incident.

"Screaming, harassing me, and punches me really hard in my face, and then flees," the woman said.

The woman did not want to be identified, but she does want her attacker put behind bars.

"I was in shock," the woman said. "I was completely stunned."

Just after 10 p.m. Sunday, May 22, the woman was walking her dog in front of 125 W. 15th St. when she said she passed the man as he sat on a stoop. He said something that she did not quite hear, so she stopped.

"I said, 'Excuse me?' And at that point he screamed, 'Get that f'ing dog away from me!' really, really loud," the woman said.

The woman said the confrontation began to escalate.

"And I stepped back, and the next thing I knew, he took a dumpling, which he was eating, and threw it and hit me in the face with it. And then he kicked at my dog. He kicked at her face," the woman said.

The woman said she turned to get away from the man, but he caught up to her.

The surveillance video shows the man pointing his finger and gesturing with his right hand as he yelled at the victim. But the woman said afterward, things turned violent.

"Out of nowhere, just punched me in the face with the hand that's gesturing," she said.

The woman was severely hurt, and left bleeding from a broken nose.

"I still have extensive bruising and swelling," she said. "There's still a lot of pain."

The longtime Chelsea resident, who said there are a lot of dog owners in the area, wonders if the man has done the same thing before. She said she hopes the man is caught before he does it again.

"I really want them to find him," she said. "I mean, he needs to be taken off the streets."

The woman said after she started screaming, the man took off running west on 15th Street.

The suspect has been described as a white male, last seen wearing a baseball cap, jacket, pants, and sneakers.

Anyone with information has been asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA. The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577.