An elderly man in New York City was allegedly choked and robbed after a suspect followed him into his home in broad daylight.
Police released a video of the suspect and are asking the public for help in tracking him down.
WANTED for A ROBBERY in the vicinity of East 167 street and Gerard Avenue. #Bronx @NYPD44pct on 8/28/20 @ 1:20 PM Reward up to $2500Seen him ? Know who he is ?Call 1-800-577-TIPS or DM us!Calls are CONFIDENTIAL! pic.twitter.com/k01uoUximu
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) September 3, 2020
The victim of the attack, an unidentified 78-year-old man, was walking to his Bronx home after 1 p.m. last Friday when the suspect followed him into his home, according to police.
He then began choking the elderly man and demanding he give him his possessions. The suspect then got a hold of the man’s wallet containing an estimated $750 before fleeing on foot.
The victim suffered bruises from the incident but declined medical treatment.
Crime in New York City has been surging in recent months amid a growing anti-police sentiment, a slashed NYPD budget, riots, and coronavirus lockdowns.
The number of shootings has surpassed 1,000 since the start of the year, compared to 537 shootings during the same time frame last year.
In one week in July, for example, shootings surged by 176%, with 14 people murdered by gun violence, compared to five during the same week in 2019.
Robberies have also spiked in affluent neighborhoods of Manhattan this summer, with the Upper East Side seeing a 286% increase in robberies over a four-week period when compared to data from last year.
The increase in crime and coronavirus lockdown measures have contributed to New Yorkers fleeing the city for other areas.
“As a parent, this isn’t the place I once knew. I feel like NYC is disappearing so fast, and no one’s doing anything,” Allison Eden, a mother of two teenagers, previously said this summer. “There’s nowhere for them to go. I don’t want to feel afraid, and I don’t want my children to be scared to go outside.”
