First, all you see is a woman, walking down a flight of stairs from an elevated train in Brooklyn. She carries a large black handbag.
Then a hooded man comes into the frame, trailing fast behind her.
Surveillance cameras captured a brutal and protracted robbery that followed at 2:40 a.m. on March 9 in an empty stairway of the 18th Avenue F train station in Borough Park, Brooklyn.
In the video, taken from several angles and released by the police on Tuesday, the woman, 56, can be seen struggling with the man.
As she attempts to flee, he tosses her to the ground and takes her bag, kicking her several times before dumping out the bag and rifling through her belongings.
The video ends with the woman running out one exit door and the man pursuing close behind.
The woman sustained minor injuries, the police said. A police spokeswoman said she did not have any information on what the thief took.
The police said the man, who wore a dark hoodie with the letters Alpha Phi Delta on the front and the number 27 and “Stugots†on the back, fled the scene.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.
