Shocking security footage shows the moment a homeless woman tackles a 16-year-old girl and attempts to strangle her from behind in front of a New York sushi restaurant.
Homeless woman unknowingly strangle 16-year-old girl from behind
In the Oct. 4 incident, a woman who police say is named Minerva Martinez, 36, approached the girl from behind as she ate outside Watawa Sushi in Astoria before wrapping her arm around the girl’s neck for a few seconds and then releasing her.
🚨WANTED🚨for Strangulation in front of in the vicinity of at 33-10 Ditmars Boulevard #steinway #queens On 10/04/21 @ 5:22PM Reward up to $3500 Seen him? Know who he is? Call 1-800-577-TIPS or DM us! Calls are CONFIDENTIAL! #yourcityyourcall pic.twitter.com/vGVqpQK71j
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) October 9, 2021
Martinez’s alleged victim, who has not been named, was sitting with her back to the woman at the time of the attack, and there is no indication that it was provoked.
The chilling incident comes amid a recent spike in crime in the city that never sleeps, as Mayor Bill de Blasio tries to lure workers and tourists back to the metropolis despite rising crime and frightening images of people being assaulted.
Last Monday’s assault, outside a Watawa Sushi on Ditmars Boulevard in Queens, occurred in broad daylight shortly after 5 p.m., as passersby walked along the busy borough thoroughfare oblivious to the danger to the teenager.
Martinez is a homeless woman with a long list of criminal records, including six felonies.
She was arrested Saturday in connection with the incident and is currently in jail and charged with strangulation, an NYPD spokesman said Sunday in a statement.
Surveillance video released by the NYPD on Saturday, hours before Martinez’s arrest, shows an apparently unbalanced person, wearing a messy clump of gray hair, a white T-shirt, black jacket and jeans, harassing the seated 16-year-old girl before putting her in a suit. strangulation.
The assailant releases the girl after a few seconds, but does not leave the scene, gets up and appears to threaten the girl.
