Authorities in Brooklyn are working to track down a man they say targeted two young girls, assaulted them, then robbed them of their jewelry as they were walking home from school.
WABC spoke with the family after the harrowing incident. The 14-year-old victim told the outlet that shortly before the robbery last Wednesday, she picked up her 6-year-old sister from school.
The teen said they were walking home through the Crown Heights neighborhood when a man approached them and followed them into the lobby of their apartment building.
Police say he cornered them and demanded they hand over their jewelry. When the 14-year-old refused, the man started choking her 6-year-old sister with one hand and snatched her gold necklace off her neck with the other.
He then ripped the older sister’s necklace off her neck and took off.
“The man grabbed me by the neck, and then – my sister looked, and she started getting scared. I didn’t have time…I couldn’t react,” the 14-year-old told the outlet. “I only looked at my sister and she was screaming.”
The teen said the incident traumatized her, and she’s worried it might also leave her younger sister emotionally scarred.
“When I get out of school or when I get out of class, I get scared,” she explained. “She’s just a small little girl. She doesn’t know much of the world,” she said of her sister. “A situation like this could bring trauma.”
After police were called, EMS teams took the girls to a hospital to be evaluated.
The mother of both girls said she was at work at the time her daughters were robbed but expressed gratitude that her kids weren’t kidnapped.
“This man doesn’t have a heart because he attacks little girls,” she said. “I’m very worried because I gotta call my daughter every time she goes out of school to make sure her safety is good.”
Investigators said the suspect is 5 feet 8, has a light complexion, and was wearing a white T-shirt at the time of the robbery. He put a gray sweatshirt on after he left the scene and had his hair tied back into a ponytail. Police believe he’s between 25 and 40 years old.
