Judith Thomas, 75, was badly bruised in the attack on Easter Sunday.
A retired New York reporter who covered crime in the 1970s is speaking out after she was punched in the face in a random attack on Easter Sunday. Judith Thomas, 75, was walking to her sister’s apartment when she was attacked out of nowhere.
“I see this guy coming towards me, but he doesn't look dangerous. He didn't look threatening. All of a sudden, he delivers this hellacious punch right in my mouth,” Thomas said. She was badly bruised in the attack.
In surveillance video of the incident, the suspect is seen crouching under the scaffolding and slamming his fist into Thomas’s face. Thomas then collapses to the ground.
“When he punched me, I went down like a sack of potatoes,” Thomas said. “Then I just put my face in my hands, and I was saying ‘Oh my god, oh my god. What just happened?’”
Thomas was once a local TV news reporter during the 1970s, when crime in the city was at all-time high. She worries the city is returning to those days.
“What we have is chaos. This has happened to other people. This has happened to Asians. It's happened to lots of people. And it's crazy,” Thomas said.
It was the latest incident in a disturbing string of unprovoked attacks in the city.
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