A mugger brutally punched a 68-year-old parishioner down the steps of her Queens church early Sunday – then snatched her purse and rode off in her car as she lied on the ground in pain, authorities said.
The victim was approaching the entrance of the St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church on 152nd Street in Briarwood around 8:20 a.m. when the much-younger attacker fame up behind her and clocked her in the face, according to cops and the church’s pastor, Father Konstantinos Kalogridis.
The force of the blow sent her tumbling backward down the steps, cops said.
The brute ripped off the woman’s purse holding $300, a cellphone, a credit card and car keys, authorities said.
Then he took off in the badly injured victim’s 2006 Nissan Altima while the victim still lied on the ground, police said.
“She’s a parishioner of our church who was coming to church to attend the service in the morning,” Kalogridis told The Post in a phone interview. “I was in the office during the service but when I saw the footage of what happened, it was horrible.”
“I can’t believe — right on the top of the steps of the church — to do this to an elderly woman,” Kalogridis told The Post in a phone interview. “I hope they find this guy and they go to jail.”
The victim was initially hospitalized in critical condition, but Kalogridis said he had since visited her and her condition had stabilized.
“She’s a regular parishioner,” the pastor said. “She has a wonderful family… and she has her faith in the Lord and she’s a humble person that would give her very best to her family and her community.”
“I gave her a blessing and gave her communion and I prayed for her, and we’re hoping she’ll come out strong and have a full recovery,” he added. “And even [when] the nurses saw me visit her, they would say, ‘Oh, she’s so sweet! So nice!’”
Police released a video Monday of the suspect, believed to be between 18 and 25 years old, running off with the senior’s bag.
A still photo shows him with his arms outstretched while standing at the top of the church steps, apparently just after knocking the parishioner down.
“[Parishioners] were shocked because we don’t have incidents like that here in this area of the neighborhood,” Kalogridis said. “There was fear, they were angry and sad for the woman as she went through this.”
The pastor said the NYPD’s local 107th Precinct has opted to increase its presence around the church as they search for the attacker – especially during the ongoing season of Orthodox Lent.
“They’re going to be sending patrols here just to keep an eye on the area, so we have the support of the police 100% on this,” he said.
The NYPD has described the attacker as a man with a dark complexion, between 18 and 25 years old, standing around 5-foot-8 with a medium build.
He was last seen wearing a red hoodie underneath a black jacket, black pants, black face mask and black Jordans with red trim.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on X @NYPDTips.
