Violent Bronx Mugging Caught On Video: 'You See That And You Don't Believe It'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A violent mugging in the Bronx was caught on surveillance camera.
The victim is recovering from his injuries, and working with police to find the attacker.
Andres Pichardo, 64, has watched the surveillance video repeatedly, but says it still doesn't seem real.
Last week, steps from his door, a stranger grabbed Pichardo's thick gold chain and tried to rip it from his neck.
As the victim struggled to keep from being choked, the mugger dragged him down the hallway before fleeing empty-handed.
Just spoke with the victim. This is the bruise from attempt to rip chain off his neck. He has seen the mugger in the neighborhood. Very shaken but tremendous family support. Highly complimentary of assistance from @NYPDnews https://t.co/rMsfDo3Ppi pic.twitter.com/lOxHhkXv5n
— Tony Aiello (@AielloTV) July 3, 2020
The ugly red bruise Pichardo suffered, along with the imprint from the chain, is still visible.
He also suffered damage to his knee.
Pichardo is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic.
"Something unbelievable. You see that and you don't believe it. Something like out of a - terrible - out of a movie or something. It's terrible, very terrible," said the victim's cousin Nicholas Pichardo.
The building where it happened is on University Avenue in the NYPD's 46th Precinct, where felony assault jumped 34% vs. June of last year.
Many New Yorkers support defunding the police. For some that means fewer cops on the street. Not the Pichardo family, reported CBS2's Tony Aiello.
They are effusive in their praise of the cops working to find the suspect, who can be seen clearly in still surveillance images. And they reject the idea of fewer cops in their neighborhood.
"We need them. Definitely we need them. To keep, you know, a person like that guy out of the street, completely," said Nicholas Pichardo.
Friday, at the 46th precinct stationhouse, the victim met with cops, accompanied by his cousin and his son, Aneury Pichardo.
"When you saw the video, what did you think?" Aiello asked.
"I was upset, you know? I was upset, definitely," said Aneury Pichardo.
Aiello was told investigators have put a name to the face of the suspect, and soon hope to have the guy who would do that to a stranger off the street.