Police in the Bronx are asking for the public's help in identifying a man who they say beat and robbed a victim near Bronx Park, News 12 reported. Investigators have released an image of the suspect and are urging anyone who recognizes him to come forward, as officers work to track down the person behind the violent street robbery.
According to investigators, the suspect approached a 58-year-old victim before the encounter turned violent. What may have begun as an ordinary moment on the street quickly escalated when the man confronted the victim directly, setting in motion a robbery that would leave the older man injured and stripped of his belongings.
Police say the suspect pulled out a gun and demanded the victim's things. The presence of the weapon turned the confrontation into an armed robbery, leaving the 58-year-old with little room to resist as the attacker made clear he intended to take whatever the victim was carrying at the time of the encounter.
The violence did not end with the threat of the gun. According to the account, the robber punched the victim in the face several times during the encounter. The repeated blows turned the robbery into a physical assault, compounding the danger the older man faced as the attacker pressed his demand for the victim's possessions.
After the assault, the suspect took the victim's wallet and phone, according to police. With those items in hand, the attacker left the scene, making off with the personal belongings that investigators have since cited as the focus of the robbery as they piece together exactly what was taken during the confrontation.
The victim was hurt in the attack but was not hospitalized, according to the report. While he avoided injuries serious enough to require a hospital stay, the combination of being robbed at gunpoint and punched repeatedly in the face underscored the brutality of an encounter that police are treating as a serious crime.
Investigators say the robbery happened at the intersection of Bronx Park East and Waring Avenue during the early morning hours of May 17th. With the suspect still at large weeks later, police are appealing to the public, asking anyone who recognizes the man in the released image to contact them so the case can move forward.