A 32-year-old man arrested for punching an 89-year-old woman outside a Harlem doctor’s office this week was previously accused of knocking a 64-year-old woman to the ground at one of the Upper West Side’s busiest intersections, police said.
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The suspect, Eron Cruz, was charged with assault on a person over the age of 65, and had two open warrants when he was taken into custody, according to amNewYork.The latest attack happened at about 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28 in front of 565 West 125th Street. Police say the attacker punched the 89-year-old and her face struck a wall. She suffered a cut and a bump on her head and was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in stable condition. Officers from the 26th Precinct tracked down and arrested Cruz in Upper Manhattan the same day.
Police identified Cruz as the attacker on Thursday.
According to amNewYork, Cruz had been arrested earlier this year in a similar, unprovoked attack on a senior — this one on the Upper West Side. On Aug. 7, at around 9:35 a.m., he allegedly walked up to a 64-year-old woman at Broadway and West 72nd Street and shoved her to the ground, injuring her back.
The outlet, which described Cruz as homeless, also reported a 2022 arrest in which he allegedly slapped a 29-year-old woman on a Bx19 bus near St. Nicholas Avenue and West 145th Street.
It was not immediately clear how the August case was resolved, or why Cruz was back on the street at the time of this week’s attack.
Older women on the West Side have been targeted before this year — including a July chain-snatching spree aimed at women over 50, which is not connected to Cruz.
Anyone with relevant 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). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by sending a direct message to @NYPDTips on Twitter.
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