A 68-year-old woman suffered a fractured skull as she was mugged on the steps of her Queens church on Sunday morning
āHorrible. I could not believe my eyes, seeing what he did to this lady,ā Rev. Konstantinos Kalogridis of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church said, according to WNBC-TV.
āShe was coming to church to pray, to participate. I donāt know what kind of a person this is but evil. Pure evil,ā he said.
The 8:30 a.m. attack took place Sunday.
Surveillance video shows the woman walking up the steps to enter the church. A figure in a hooded sweatshirt runs up the steps to get to the top first. Once here, he shoves the woman down the steps.
Video shows him taking her purse before leaving.
The purse had $300, a cellphone, credit card and car keys, police said, according to WPIX-TV.
The woman was initially listed in critical condition at Booth Memorial Hospital.
Police said they have a lead on a suspect.
Family friend Daniel Coffaro, said the woman, who he referred to only by her first name of Irene, is now in stable condition in the intensive care unit with a fractured skull and a black eye, according to WABC-TV.
āSalt of the earth, godly woman, she wouldnāt even hurt a fly, sheās such a nice lady, anything, she would take the shirt off her back,ā Coffaro said,
āShe was in and out of consciousness yesterday, today sheās awake but sheās not talking, sheās nonverbal, she can say like one word,ā Coffaro said on Tuesday.
Police said Ireneās 2006 Nissan Altima was stolen after the attack, but has since been recovered.
āI almost cried, itās devastating. Iām part of a civilian patrol and itās scary, people donāt even fear real cops. Heās an animal, deserves to be locked up, full book thrown at him,ā Coffaro said.
Kalogridis had words for the attacker, according to WNBC.
āMy message is for him to surrender to the police and repent for this grievous sin he made,ā he said. āRepentance and surrender and do it as soon as possible.ā
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.