A Black woman took matters into her own hands when an elderly Brooklyn landlord and his son allegedly broke into her apartment, beat her in front of her children and in the father’s case, called her the N-word.
The alleged attack Tuesday took a turn when the victim, Veronica Cochran, disarmed the landlord, the New York Daily News reported of statements made Wednesday in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
“You do not belong here, n—-r,” landlord Eugene Simonetti told the woman, according to prosecutors.
Although Rocco Simonetti, 61, was arraigned Wednesday, his father — hospitalized with a possible stroke after the encounter — hasn’t been charged yet, the New York Daily News reported.
The incident started when the father and son went to the victim’s apartment at about 1:10 p.m. in Sheepshead Bay, a neighborhood in south Brooklyn, prosecutors said.
Eugene Simonetti allegedly removed the hinges from the woman’s door while she was sleeping, the New York Daily News reported.
When her children, an 11-year-old, a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old, woke her up, Eugene Simonetti allegedly started beating the woman with a cane while his son punched her, prosecutors said.
Rocco Simonetti’s lawyer, Nicole Mull, said at some point Cochran flipped the script on the landlord, according to the New York Daily News.
“She disarmed the 87-year-old landlord of his cane and started beating on him,” Mull said.
Assistant District Attorney Wilfredo Cotto responded that if he beat him with the cane, he too “would try to take it from him and hit him with it.”
Rocco Simonetti, through his attorney, rebutted the victim’s version of what happened. He said he didn’t hit Cochran and was only trying to pull her off his father, the New York Daily News reported.
The father and son reportedly went to the apartment because paint was leaking down to a lower floor and no one answered when they knocked, Mull said.
Rocco Simonetti faces nearly 20 charges in the incident, including burglary, assault and child endangerment, the New York Daily News reported.
Judge Hilary Gingold allowed the man’s release without bail and ordered him to stay away from the building in question.
“I’ve got nothing to say,” Rocco Simonetti told the Daily News outside of court.
