The thief stole the pockets and drove off within the sufferer's automotive
Police in New York Metropolis are looking for a suspect who was caught on video pushing a 68-year-old girl down the steps of her church earlier than stealing her purse and driving away Sunday morning.
At roughly 8:20 a.m., an unidentified man between the ages of 18 and 25 with a medium construct chased the sufferer exterior Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Jamaica, Queens, earlier than pushing him down the steps, in line with authorities and pictures of the incident captured by authorities. New York Put up.
Because the sufferer lays lifeless on the bottom, the footage exhibits the hooded suspect rummaging by her pockets and ripping out her purse, which contained $300 in money, bank cards, a cellphone and automotive keys, in line with police. He then drove off within the sufferer's 2006 Nissan Altima.
The sufferer was subsequently hospitalized in important situation, however her situation has since improved, in line with her father, Konstantinos Kalogridis, who visited her on the hospital.
“It's a parishioner of our church that was coming to the church to attend the service within the morning,” Kalogridis advised the New York Put up. “I used to be within the workplace in the course of the service, however once I noticed the footage of what occurred, it was horrible.
“I gave her a blessing and I gave her communion and I prayed for her and we hope she comes out sturdy and makes a full restoration,” he added. “And even [when] The nurses noticed me visiting her and stated, 'Oh, she's so candy! So good!'”
The pastor stated parishioners have been shocked by the prison's brazen conduct in direction of the aged girl, particularly since their a part of the neighborhood doesn't often see this sort of callous violence.
“I can't imagine — proper on the high of the steps within the church — that I'm going to do that to an aged girl,” Kalogridis stated, including that he hopes the police apprehend and arrest the suspect.
After the assault, the NYPD reportedly elevated its presence across the Greek Orthodox church, which observes Lent till Could 4.
“They're going to ship patrols right here to observe the realm, so we have now 100% assist from the police,” Kalogridis stated.
Police stated the suspect has a “darkish complexion” and was final seen sporting a pink hooded sweatshirt underneath a black jacket, black pants, a black masks and black Jordans with pink trim.
Violent crime in New York has been making headlines in recent times, though crime within the metropolis total fell final 12 months, in line with The New York Instances.
Final month, Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul introduced she was sending 750 members of the Nationwide Guard and a whole lot of state troopers to the town's subway system in response to a spate of violent crimes which have garnered nationwide consideration, in line with The Washington Put up.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Put up. Ship information tricks to jon.brown@christianpost.com