Aug 19, 2008 12:32 pm US/Eastern
Horror Video: Elderly Woman Savagely Mugged
Video Shows Suspect Choking Out Victim In Elevator Before Running Off With Her Handbag And Cane
Police Believe Crook Behind Other Attacks, May Have Accomplice
Reporting
Lou Young
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Police say in the last eight weeks there have been at least a dozen attacks on elderly men and women in Crown heights, Flatbush and Kensington, all with the same modus operandi.
The lone attacker enters an apartment building's lobby, elevator or stairwell behind his victim and then attacks from behind, sinking in what appears to be a rear naked choke. After his elderly prey passed out, the mugger stole her Medicaid cards, cash, cell phones, eyeglasses, groceries and even a social security check.
On Monday, police released video of a crime as heartless as it can get – an 85-year-old woman brutally beaten and mugged inside a Brooklyn elevator.
The entire incident was caught on camera and CBS 2 HD has obtained the shocking surveillance video that police hope will lead them to the culprit.
In the video, the elderly woman rides an elevator with a man who waits to attack until her back is turned.
But if that weren't enough, police believe the suspect seen in the video may be the heartless hoodlum responsible in a string of similar attacks.
Other cameras in the building catch the man running to freedom with the woman's purse and cane – a cowardly predator in broad daylight. The victim's niece saw the video for the first time.
"There she was just trying to get out to come and see me and this guy just grabbed her. I was not prepared for that," Claire France said.
The victim, Lillian France, was mugged last Thursday afternoon on her way to visit her niece. The Guyanan-born retired garment district seamstress is recovering from severe neck bruises, cuts to the face and lacerations on her cheeks and the roof of her mouth.
The psychological damage runs deeper because the mugger never seemed threatening before he struck. He played the old woman.
A terrifying attack in the close confines of the elevator. He pretends to be friendly. Asks her what floor, pushes the button for her. When they arrive at 5 he says, 'This is your floor.' She begins to step out. Then, he grabs her from behind.
"She said, 'All I was saw was blackness,'" Claire French said. "For the rest of her life she is no longer gonna trust. She is gonna live in fear.
"So her sense of security that everyone should have in society is gone. It's a life sentence plain and simple."
This may have been more than a simple mugging. Lillian France had nearly $900 in her handbag, withdrawn from a Banco Popular branch on Eastern Parkway a few minutes before the mugging. She believes the mugger may have an accomplice -- a woman she remembers from inside the bank.
Anyone with information about this crime, or who recognizes the person in the video, is asked to call Crimestoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
CBS 2's Magee Hickey contributed to this report.
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