CBS2 Exclusive: 'I Just Freaked Out,' Woman Traumatized By 'Acid' Wielding Mugger
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Upper East Side residents are on edge after police said two different women were threatened with some sort of liquid and robbed at an ATM.
Police said there have been two similar robberies within three weeks at the ATM inside a CitiBank on 68th Street and 1st Avenue. Police believe the same suspect carried out both robberies, and late Tuesday they released surveillance footage of the alleged mugger, as CBS2's Valerie Castro reported.
The most recent incident happened around 4 p.m. Monday. Police said a 36-year-old woman was standing at the ATM when the suspect approached her waving a bottle of yellow liquid that he claimed was acid. He demanded $1,000, but she withdrew $500 and he was gone, CBS2's Magdalena Doris reported.
During an exclusive phone call with CBS2's Erin Logan the woman shared her traumatic story.
"I just completely freaked out, shaking, and couldn't breathe," she said.
The man threatened to throw the liquid in her face.
"I saw him when he was already behind me, um, so I didn't realize that he followed me until he cornered me," she said.
The woman said the man became aggressive as the encounter played out.
"He was trying to be under control, but I just freaked out completely," she recalled.
She said she was having trouble with her pin number, and he started to get irritated before giving up on the initial $1,000 demand.
"He just said give me $500," she said.
That's exactly what she did, but the threats continued before he took off.
The man told her to stay put for 15 minutes, and that a friend of his would be in a car watching.
"As soon as I saw him walking away, I called my husband and he told me to call the police," she said.
She said her husband arrived in just a few minutes, along with police.
On May 12 at the same bank, police said a 22-year-old woman handed over $1,000 when the man approached waving the bottle around and threatening to burn her face with an alleged corrosive.
Other customers at the bank Tuesday morning were taken aback by the news.
"I'm scared," customer Emily Sykes said. "I probably would be just so nervous looking at him and wondering what is he talking about?"
"I guess I would scream really loudly and try to get away," one woman told CBS2's Logan. "That's horrible. That can't go on on the Upper East Side."
"Every time something happens they have a guard in here and then three days later the guard is gone," a local resident said. "It could be the nicest neighborhood there is, there's no neighborhood that's safe anymore to me."
"I always look around. I always make sure that I'm not by myself. I never feel completely safe," another woman said.
"I would hope that the authorities get on top of this person and try to make an arrest. That's a very serious situation," one man said.
"That's awful, to feel so threatened and you really don't have a lot of choice. You're trapped in there," a woman said.
The suspect is about 6'4" tall and has worn a grey hoodie and jeans in both incidents.
Investigators haven't released surveillance video as of yet, but the vestibule has multiple cameras.
