Woman randomly beaten with bat

Woman randomly beaten with bat in terrifying caught-on-video attack in Lower Manhattan

Article by Nicholas Williams, Emma Seiwell | [email protected] | New York Daily News and Elizabeth Keogh | [email protected] | New York Daily News PUBLISHED: June 26, 2024 at 9:17 p.m. | UPDATED: June 27, 2024 at 9:56 a.m.

Shi Yanan, 58, was looking down at her phone as she walked on Monroe St. near Market St. around 2 p.m. Tuesday, surveillance video shows.

The men crept up behind her and the one not carrying a baseball bat hit her in the back of the head, the video shows.

As Yanan brought her hand to her head and turned around, the men backed her into a doorframe and inexplicably began punching, kicking and pummeling her with a bat.

The woman crouched down to the ground, her things strewn about the sidewalk, as she took a few moments to recover from the terrifying, random attack.

A bystander holding a shopping bag and pushing a scooter appeared to stop to check on Yanan as she made a phone call.

The attackers did not rob of her of anything, police said.

Medics took Yanan to SUNY Downstate Medical Center, where she was treated and released.

On Wednesday, her family told the Daily News the woman suffered bruises to her and leg and head and is recovering at her Staten Island home.

“Fortunately, the shouts of passersby and the courageous intervention of community members scared off the perpetrator and prompted a timely call for help, averting potentially more severe consequences,” a family member said in a statement.

“This incident has not only caused physical harm but also inflicted severe psychological trauma”

Police have not yet caught the attackers.

“Targeting the elderly, women, and children is truly reprehensible,” the family said. “We urge the police to fully utilize the surrounding evidence to swiftly bring the criminal to justice.”

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