NYPD: 91-Year-Old Woman Put In Chokehold During Armed Robbery
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 91-year-old woman was in horror Thursday, a day after she was put in a chokehold in an armed robbery in Brooklyn.
Elizabeth Gioino was tackled from behind by an armed 250-pound man as she was entering a brownstone on 9th Street in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn at around 1 p.m. Wednesday, police said.
She was coming home from the library at the time of the attack, police said.
"He came inside. He choked me – 'Shut up, shut up and give me your money!'" Gioino said.
As CBS2's Steve Langford reported, the suspect was caught on surveillance video near the scene of the crime.
"I said. 'Please leave me alone! I'm a sick woman! I'm old enough! Leave me alone!'" Gioino said. "He choked me three times, 'Give me the money, give me the money!' I don't have any money."
A neighbor tried to intervene, but the suspect pointed the gun at him and robbed him too. Gioino said the suspect got $170 from her and $100 from the neighbor, named Michael.
Police on Thursday were offering a reward, linking the mugging to a similar home invasion just over a mile away about a month earlier.
Around 2:30 p.m. Feb. 11, near Prospect Place and Sixth Avenue, police said the same suspect entered a home and hit a 71-year-old woman in the head with a handgun before demanding money.
"I don't open doors," said Carmen Olenick of Park Slope. "I look even from outside, even if people look nice."
The signs of trouble in Park Slope have not gone unheeded.
"I've always said New York is a pretty safe town, but then again, it's not," said Lora Myers of Park Slope. "You have to be alert."
Many residents told 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck they were shocked after hearing about the incident.
"It's really shocking that that would happen at any point during the day, never mind, right in the middle," one woman said.
Police described the suspect as a black male between 40 and 50 years old, standing 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall and weighing about 250 pounds.
As police searched for him, the victim of the latest brutality was left traumatized.
"I'm afraid to go out," Gioino said. "I don't know what to do."
The NYPD is asking anyone with information about the incident to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.