Worker: Apparent Dispute Over Wearing Masks Led Women To Attack 69-Year-Old Man Inside Brooklyn Laundromat
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are searching for suspects caught on camera attacking a laundromat employee in Brooklyn, sending him to the hospital.
Surveillance cameras captured two women assaulting an Aqua Wash employee. One threw a vase at the 69-year-old man. Another hurled a blanket at him. She then appeared to drop a knife, turn back to pick it up and ran off, CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis reported Thursday.
Tracie Lynch is a regular customer at the 24-hour laundromat on East 98th Street in Brownsville, but wasn't there on June 8 when the incident happened. He said she is still wondering why it did.
"Shock, total hurt, total dismay," Lynch said. "What did they champion from assaulting this person? That is a good fellow. He works here in the evening. He's helpful, courteous."
Sources told DeAngelis that at around 4 a.m. the women entered the laundromat to use the ATM, unmasked. There are signs on the door which state a face covering must be worn while inside the laundromat. A worker said that's what the victim asked the women to do, which led to a dispute.
"That's horrible and it's sad that people just can't follow instructions. They have to hurt each other. That's very sad," said Deborah Johnson, who works in the area.
One woman, who didn't want to show her face on camera, said she wears a mask because she's immunocompromised.
"You should respect people's premises. If you come into their environment and they ask you to wear a mask, you should do it," she said.
No matter what the reason, Lynch said there's no excuse for such violent behavior.
"When I see something like that in my community, it almost hurts me in the inside. I cry because it happens too long. It's not like this is something that randomly happened. Until we treat ourselves better, how can we ask someone else to treat us better?" Lynch said.
"I pray they surrender and admit what they did that was wrong," Johnson added.
Police said the victim was also punched in the face. He was treated at the hospital for lacerations to his head. He has since returned to work.
Anyone who has information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 or for Spanish, 1-888-577-4782. Tips can also be sent to the NYPDTips Twitter account or submitted online at NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.
