What to Know
- A 63-year-old woman was walking in Hell's Kitchen around 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1 when a person she didn't know attacked, her, police say
- The attacker punched the woman several times and hit her in the face with a rolling suitcase, the NYPD said
- The woman was left with several facial injuries, police said. The attack was caught on video
Esther Guzman was out celebrating New Year's Eve like most New Yorkers she was brutally attacked by a stranger with a suitcase.
The 63-year-old woman was walking near West 51st Street and 10th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen around 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1 when a person she didn't know approached her and punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground, police said.
The attacker then struck Guzman in the face with a rolling suitcase and continued to punch her before fleeing, the NYPD said.
Surveillance video captured the disturbing scene that unfolded as Guzman walked down an often busy sidewalk, returning home from her sister's house nearby.
Guzman still had bruises around her eyes, more than 10 days after the violent attack.
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"My eyes went 'boom.' I got a big bump here on my eyes, but the time I know I was bleeding, I came home, left my luggage and I took a cab to the emergency room," Guzman recalled.
Mohammad Altareb works at a nearby market, where Guzman is a regular customer.
"I had an encounter with him, along where he lives and I told him to never come back here anymore," Altareb said. "He's come by several times and we called the police but they never arrived on time."
With no arrests yet, Guzman is still afraid when she leaves her home.
Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.
