Woman Speaks Out After Being Slashed, Robbed Near South Street Seaport
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The search continues for a man who slashed and robbed a woman Monday night near the South Street Seaport.
The attack, which happened around 7:45 p.m. on Water Street, was caught on surveillance video.
Melissa Leslie, 25, was walking when she felt a tug on her purse.
"I had no idea until he was actually at my side," Leslie told CBS2's Janelle Burrell.
The suspect then held a knife to her throat and told her to give him her purse. He then slashed her right hand and fled west on Beekman Street, police said. Surveillance video captured the moment the suspect grabs her purse and runs off.
"I kind of thought that I was gonna die," Leslie said.
After her attacker fled, she ran into her friend Steve Portland. "First I saw was the blood, I saw the cut right away. I immediately grabbed her and said let's get her to the hospital," Portland said.
Leslie received nine stitches for a lacerated tendon. Her right hand is now bandaged and she has to undergo surgery this week, Burrell reported.
Janine Handfus, who has lived in the South Street Seaport area for more than 30 years, was stunned to hear about the attack.
"There's a sense of safety here," she told CBS2's Janelle Burrell. "I grew up in this neighborhood, so it's something you'd never expect."
The incident also left others in the area on edge.
"The Seaport prides itself in taking care of people around here," said South Street worker Ray Algarin. "We have security and everything."
"I'll be very careful," said Editha Touhy. "Use spray, pepper spray."
The suspect got away with her purse which contained $1,500 and two bank cards.
Leslie is a bartender and she expects to be out of commission for about two weeks before she'll be able to head back to work.
The suspect is described as a white man around the age of 30, 5'8" tall and 160 pounds. He was wearing a dark blue hoodie, blue jeans, black shoes and possibly a dark cap.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
