BY THE VILLAGE SUN | Police have made an arrest in a bizarre bat attack on a middle-aged woman on the Lower East Side last month — but there’s still no clarity about the crime’s motive, at least not from what police are releasing so far to the public.
On Tuesday, following an ongoing investigation, police charged a 14-year-old male with second-degree assault — meaning “assault with intent to cause serious physical injury.” Since the individual is a minor, police are not releasing his name.
The violence occurred Tues., June 25, just after 2 p.m. as the 58-year-old victim was walking in the Two Bridges neighborhood in front of 37 Monroe St., about a block south of the Manhattan Bridge.
A police spokesperson said it appears the attacker and victim did not have a prior dispute and, in fact, did not even know each other. No words were exchanged between them. The punk and a sidekick simply came up on the woman from behind and bashed her multiple times with the bat.
Both youths are pictured together in a police surveillance photo. It wasn’t clear which of the two was arrested.
The victim suffered injuries to her leg and swelling to her head. She was transported by E.M.S. ambulance to New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital in stable condition. A police spokesperson could not immediately say if she, like the two perps, is Asian.
Asked if there was any gang connection to the attack, the spokesperson said not based on the information he had available, but that it wasn’t known how far the investigation has gone at this point.
It’s also not clear why any of the three individuals were at the location at the time. The arrested youth is from Brooklyn, the victim from Staten Island.
She worked at a senior center. Let me guess — someone’s grandma was not happy with this lady and they decided to take care of things.