A 55-year-old woman was targeted in a violent attack inside Central Park, her head smashed into a tree over and over by a man seen fleeing the scene of the crime on a Citi Bike headed towards the Upper East Side, police said.
Just before 6:00 am Thursday morning, investigators say the woman was walking along Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park, like many New Yorkers do to get their exercise, when she was approached by a man who began chatting her up.
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At some point during the conversation, police say, the unhinged stranger grabbed the woman and then slammed her head against a tree in the park multiple times, leaving her inured.
Paramedics rushed the 55-year-old woman to the hospital where she is in stable condition, police said.
Meanwhile, investigators say the suspect was was seen speeding from the crime scene on a blue Citi Bike going east on the 86th Street Transverse towards the Upper East Side.
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A police sketch was released by the NYPD late Friday night showing the suspect, described by investigators as an adult man standing 5’4” tall, weighing 140 pounds with dark-colored, close-cut hair with a blemish to the left side of his face. He was last seen wearing a dark blue jacket.
If you recognize the suspect in the police sketch or have any information that could help investigators, you’re asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477.
