Mar 27, 2007 9:08 pm US/Eastern
80-Year-Old Man Attacked Near Jersey City Church
by Hazel Sanchez
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBS) ―
Less than a month after the NYPD began a frantic search for a man who assaulted and robbed a 101-year-old woman and an 85-year-old woman, Jersey City police are searching for four young muggers who viciously attacked an 80-year-old man while trying to rob him.
Evristo Conidi was walking outside the St. Paul the Apostle Church about 6:30 on Thursday night when police say three males and a female, said to be in their late teens or early 20s, approached him and punched him in the face twice, knocking him to the ground.
Father Bob Antczak, pastor of the church, says he spoke with Conidi, who is a parishioner at the church, shortly after the attack. "He's really kind of frightened by the whole thing, and a little bitter about kids which is very understandable," Antczak said.
Police say Conidi was first approached by one of the males who knocked him down. When he got back up, the three other muggers approached him and punched him back down. The group demanded money from Conidi, but ran off after he told them he didn't have any.
Now investigators are hoping someone may have seen the teens fleeing the scene and can help bring them to justice.
"I think our people our good. They realize there are problems with youth and all that, and they're not vengeance happy," Anctzak said. "But at the same time, we say at least get them off the street. That kind of violence is almost like violence for the sake of violence."
Earlier this month, a citywide search began in New York City when video of a man punching a 101-year-old woman and robbing her surfaced. Tuesday afternoon, the New York state Senate unanimously passed a bill that imposes tougher penalties on people who assault a senior citizen, but the General Assembly did not pass the measure, which would have put an assailant behind bars for up to seven years if convicted.
Conidi was taken Greenville Hospital and listed in critical condition before being moved to University Hospital in Newark where he was upgraded to serious condition. There were reports that Conidi may undergo surgery possibly because of swelling in his brain.
Anyone with information is asked to call police immediately.
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