Police are looking for a man who allegedly followed a home health care worker into an elevator in an Upper West Side apartment building, attempted to rob her, then assaulted her before running away.
The 68-year-old victim, Dulce Delacruz, was walking into the elevator at 840 Columbus Ave. at about 7:50 a.m. Monday when the suspect followed her in, police said. He tried to grab her bag, then punched her in the face.
Delacruz fought back, and her attacker ran away. She was taken to St. Luke's Hospital, where she was treated for her injuries.
Delacruz's employer, acting as her translator, told NBC 4 New York she refused to back down.
"The way she told us, 'I know he just wanted money for dope, and I had no intentions of giving him anything,'" said Lucy Acevedo.
"She says that every woman should fight. No woman should allow herself to be taken like that."
But the attack has left others in the building fearful that they could be next.
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"It's getting ridiculous around here," said neighbor Lucille Parker. "I'm scared to come in and out of my building. I can't run."
The suspect is believed to be in his early to mid-20s and is described as about 5 feet 7 inches and slim, last seen wearing a blue and white hooded Polo jacket with a number 3 on the right shoulder. He was also wearing an orange billed baseball cap and white sneakers.
