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81-Year-Old Woman Bodyslammed, Mugged In Subway Station

NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- She said it felt like she was flying.

That's how an elderly woman described a heartless attack inside a subway station.

And it was at the hands of another woman.

The robbery was caught on camera. As CBS 2's Wendy Gillette reports, the video shows how Madeline Klima was robbed from behind.

A defenseless elderly woman, Klima said she can't make sense of what happened to her.

"Why? Why'd she have to hurt so much? She wanted it so bad she could have asked for it," Klima told Gillette.

The video shows her falling to the ground and hitting her head as the thief runs off with her purse.

"Oohh flying. Picked me up and like, threw me. And went down, and blood, you know. But I couldn't get up," Klima said.

The 81-year-old said she was stunned by how much force the woman used. Klima fractured and dislocated her shoulder in the fall and her eye is heavily bruised. She also needed stitches.

Police said the suspect is dark skinned, in her 20s, about 5-foot-10 and nearly 200 pounds.

(UPDATE: New Yorkers rally to victim's aid, donate hundres of dollars)

Klima was returning home to Brooklyn from her job cleaning offices when she was robbed at the Fulton Street station. She said she's hoping police catch the suspect, so she won't hurt anyone else.

When asked what she wants the police to do to this woman, Klima said, "It's hard to say. We would say hang 'em, but we don't do this today."

This is the first time Klima has been the victim of a crime. She had several paychecks in her pocketbook from the job she still works despite her age.

The attack left her in shock and in pain.

"Right now I have problems sleeping. My arm don't go right, I have to get up," she said.

Klima said she will get her stitches out Friday when she visits her doctor. But it will take much longer to heal her emotional wounds.

If you recognize the suspect, please call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. All information is kept confidential.

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