Mario Santillana, 73, speaks out after violent assault, robbery: "No one came to help me"
NEW YORK -- Police need your help catching a thief who choked and punched a Brooklyn man on Mother's Day as he was preparing a celebration for his wife.
"You'll notice it's a little swollen," Mario Santillana said.
Santillana showed the bruises and cuts to his head and arms after he was beaten and robbed inside his own apartment building. The suspect assaulted the 73-year-old on a staircase in plain view of the entire third floor.
Santillana said his attacker put him in a chokehold and threw him to the floor.
Surveillance video shows the suspect slipping in behind Santillana as he entered his building on Hooper Street and South 4th Street Sunday afternoon. The video shows the masked intruder following Santillana up the stairs where he suddenly put the victim in a chokehold, threw him to the ground, punched him in the head and robbed him.
"I screamed very hard, 'help me, help me,'" Santillana said. "No one came to help me."
Santillana said he tried fighting off the attacker with one hand. In the other, he was tightly gripping a grocery bag, full of items had had bought to celebrate Mother's Day with his wife. The robbery almost derailed their celebration.
"This is very bad situation because they don't respect us. My wife is 81 and I'm 73. This is a big cowardice from this guy," Santillana said.
The suspect ended up stealing Santillana's wallet with his debit card and $60 inside.
For his family – that's not a small sum of money – but even so, they are thankful.
"My wife, my kids, grateful to God I'm OK. I had a bad experience but I'm alive," Santillana said.
As for the suspect, police have yet to make an arrest.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
