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Video: 79-Year-Old Man Beaten, Robbed In Lobby Of Bronx Apartment Building

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A vicious attack and robbery was caught on surveillance video in the Bronx.

Police say a man threw 79-year-old Abrahan Lopez to the ground and punched him several times in the lobby of his apartment building near Dekalb Avenue and East 213th Street in Norwood on Tuesday.

CBS2's Ali Bauman spoke with Lopez when he returned home from the hospital, bruised and swollen.

"He never saw nobody like him, that he is not human, he is an animal," his daughter translated.

The man took the Lopez's cell phone and wallet, which contained $220, before fleeing on foot, police said.

The suspect was about 6 feet 3 inches tall with a mustache, and was complete stranger to the grandfather, who remembers him uttering the words "shut up," while beating him to the ground over and over.

"He tried to escape but he couldn't because there was blood inside his mouth," his daughter said.

Lopez sustained serious injuries to his face, and was taken to Jacobi Hospital where he was listed in stable condition.

While there are security cameras in the lobby of the apartment building, there aren't any locks on the lobby door, and residents said this isn't the first time something like this has happened.

"I was going to the building, suddenly two guys appeared behind me, boom. And they ripped my backpack, took my wallet and ran away," one tenant, Miguel Rojas, said.

Lopez moved from the Dominican eight months ago. Now, bloodied clothes sit bagged on his kitchen table, and he's working with police to see his attacker in handcuffs.

Anyone with information in regards to this robbery is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).  The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

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