Surveillance video captured a robber's terrifying attack on a Bronx mother as she was getting home from work, and police are now searching for the assailant.
The 35-year-old victim, who asked to be identified only as Carolina, was returning home Sunday night when a man raced across the street in Claremont Village and slipped into the front door behind her, she said.
Video shows the man grabbing her by the arm and throwing her to the ground, then wrenching the bag from her arm. He then stomps on her torso.
"He took the bag already when he kicked me," the victim told NBC 4 New York. "Everything happened so fast. I was crying a lot."
The attacker then runs out of the building near Fulton Avenue and Crotona Place with her purse, the distraught woman not far behind, she said.
A bicylist sees what happens and chases down the suspect, and he's able to retrieve Carolina's purse and hold onto the alleged robber for several minutes. But the suspect then played the victim.
"He was screaming, 'Let me go! Help me, they're gonna hurt me,'" said Carolina.
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So they set him loose before officers could arrive. Carolina, who says she's still suffering pain in the back, is hoping he'll be caught again, this time by police.
"Now I'm thinking every day about that. Every day," she said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
