NYPD Hopes To Question Man In Jan. 5 Assault On Woman On Staten Island
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD is asking for the public's assistance identifying a man wanted for questioning in connection with an assault on a woman on Staten Island.
The victim says she was attacked by a stranger for no apparent reason.
Police say it happened just after midnight on Jan. 5 at 55 Bowen St., in the Fox Hills section of the borough. 57-year-old Beatrice Kaliku says she was on the way to an all-night prayer meeting at a friend's apartment when out of nowhere a man came up behind her,m put her in a chokehold, and gave her an ungodly beating.
"I thought I was gonna die," she told CBS2.
She says she tried to fight him off.
"He just kept punching me and punching me," Beatrice said. "He took my neck and slammed my head."
Frightened and fearing for her life, Beatrice said she started frantically screaming for help. As it was happening, she says a person passed by and witnessed the attack.
The attacker told him to get lost.
The man fled and the victim was taken to Richmond University Medical Center, where she was treated for a fractured hip and laceration to the head.
Police released a photo of a man they say is wanted for questioning in connection to the assault, but to the victim there's no question about it. He's described as black male who was last seen wearing a black winter jacket and blue jeans.
Beatrice says she believes she passed the man who attacked her on the street with some other men just shortly before she was assaulted.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident 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 at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
All calls are strictly confidential.
