'I Was Screaming For Help:' Senior Citizen Attacked While Awaiting Kidney Dialysis
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A senior citizen became the victim of a brutal attack while awaiting kidney dialysis in the Bronx.
Early Saturday morning, 70-year-old Jean Richards stood alone on West 233rd Street in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx.
She had just been dropped off by an Access-a-Ride bus around 4:30 in front of Da Vita Dialysis Center for treatment.
The center hadn't opened yet, when a suspicious woman approached Richards and asked about the bus.
"Because I see, she was up to no good and the next thing she grabbed my pocket book and I held onto it, and she punched me in my face like about five times," she told CBS2's Tracee Carrasco.
Richards, with minor injuries to her face, tried to find help.
"By this time, the driver was gone. I was by myself, I didn't see nobody. I was yelling, I was screaming for help," she said.
The woman took off with her purse, credit cards, and other belongings.
Richards -- now traumatized -- said she suffers from kidney failure, but has no choice, and must still return to the clinic to receive the life saving treatment three times a week.
"This is a terrible disease, you could die if you don't get your treatment, so what I did this morning, I called them and I'm I'm changing my time, so I'm going in when it's light out," she said.
Residents in the neighborhood were shocked that anyone would prey on a vulnerable and sick senior citizen.
"That's awful, I can't imagine she must have been terrified. Like I said, that doesn't really happen much around here, so it kind of puts me on edge a little bit," Camille Bucci said.
"For somebody to get robbed and attacked at 70, especially at that age, it's crazy," another resident added.
Richards said because it was so dark out, she didn't get a god look at the hooded suspect. The NYPD said there have been no arrests, but they are still investigating.
