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Police Sources: Man Seen On Video Shoving 92-Year-Old To Ground Has Been Arrested More Than 100 Times

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The NYPD has a suspect in custody, caught on camera assaulting an elderly woman in Gramercy Park.

It's not his first arrest. Police sources tell CBS2 he's been arrested more than 100 times before on a slew of charges.

CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis spoke to the victim Tuesday.

The disturbing assault was caught on surveillance video. A 92-year-old woman was walking on Third Avenue when for no apparent reason a man pushes her. She hits her head on a fire hydrant on her way to the ground.

The man takes nothing, watching her struggle as he walks away.

"I can't believe that someone would do this," the woman told DeAngelis.

Even more disbelief for the woman when DeAngelis showed her the surveillance video for the first time.

"Oh, he did look back. He did look back to see me fall on the floor, that rat!" she said.

She didn't want to give her name, but gave DeAngelis a look at her injuries, which sent her to Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital.

"He hit me on the left - ow - that hurts to touch it," she said, indicating her head. "[My arm] was all bloody."

"This man did nothing except change my life and almost kill me," she added.

It happened on Third Avenue between 15th and 16th Street. The woman was on the way to the store Friday when she was struck in the middle of the day by a stranger.

"With my visor on and my face mask, so he barely saw who I was. He just saw an elderly lady walking slowly and he decided I'm perfect for a victim," she said. "I'm not going to walk on the street alone right now, absolutely not."

She was relieved to later find out that an anonymous tip led to the arrest of 31-year-old Rashid Brimmage in Harlem Tuesday.

Police sources say he's a registered sex offender who has been arrested about 101 times. Some include assault, harassment, resisting arrest and persistent sexual abuse. He's due in court in July for arrests from earlier this year.

In the meantime, police say he committed this crime, leaving an elderly woman to plead:

"Please stop what you're doing. That's all I can say to this man."

And to authorities, she's hoping her attacker stays behind bars, so she can feel safe again walking on her own.

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