66-year-old man beaten, robbed of $17K
By Jessica Meditz
jmeditz@queensledger.com
Residents of Middle Village were appalled to see the shocking footage released by the 104th Precinct of a 66-year-old man being brutally beaten and robbed in broad daylight.
Last Thursday, Oct. 13 at around 1:20 p.m., the victim was walking on 71st Street toward Juniper Valley Road, when an unidentified male individual approached him from behind, shoved him to the pavement, started punching and kicking him throughout his body and dragged him across the sidewalk.
The perpetrator went on to swipe the victim’s bag that he carried, robbing him of $17,000 in cash.
Leaving him to lie on the ground, the thief then fled on foot and got inside a maroon Ford Fusion operated by a second unidentified male individual.
The car was last seen heading toward Eliot Avenue. Emergency Medical Services treated the victim on scene for minor injuries.
Before the robbery took place, the suspects were seen inside Artis Drug and Surgical Supplies located at 80-02 Eliot Avenue.
No arrests have been made, and the NYPD is still on the hunt for the robbers.
The first individual is described as having a medium complexion, medium build with short dark hair, last seen wearing a dark colored hooded jacket, multi-colored Tommy Hilfiger sweatpants, white sneakers, a blue and white North Face baseball cap and glasses.
The second individual is described as having a medium complexion, medium build, last seen wearing a dark-colored jacket, dark-colored sweatpants, gray sneakers and a blue Houston Astros baseball cap.
The 104th Precinct Civilian Observation Patrol – G-COP shared a post on their Facebook page to spread the word about the incident.
They noted the unconventional nature of the victim carrying $17,000 in cash on his person.
“I say Investigate the Person who was attacked…He knows something,” the comment read. “You are Not going to walk around in the Park with 17K in your Possession.”
Other residents, like 40-plus-year Middle Village local, Anthony Reardon, agent at Eliot Hill Realty, are losing faith in the community they once felt safe in.
“I feel the 104 Precinct does a terrific job; they have to cover a lot of territory. It’s a large area, so I have no knocks against the 104,” he said.
“Whoever did this had to have been watching him from when he was at the bank. They had to know he was carrying a large sum of money,” he continued. “I feel that we need to look out for each other as a community in these situations. If you see something, say something.”
