79-Year-Old Woman Sucker Punched In Central Park, Police Say

CENTRAL PARK, NY — A homeless man is facing assault charges after he punched an elderly woman and knocking her to the ground in Central Park, police said.

Gean Colin, 52, has been charged with assault with an added stipulation for injuring a victim over the age of 65, according to court records. Colin is accused of randomly attacking a 79-year-old woman standing on the west side of the Central Park Lake near West 77th Street and West Drive, police told Patch.

The victim was standing by the lake around 5:10 p.m. Tuesday when Colin punched her in the face, an NYPD spokesman told Patch. The attack was seemingly random and unprovoked, police said. Colin was arrested about 10 minutes later. (For more New York City news delivered straight to your inbox sign up for Patch's free newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The woman was knocked to the ground and suffered bruising to her face, police said.

Colin is due in court on April 24 and is currently being held on $5,000 bail, according to court records.

Central Park is experiencing a crime wave this year, according to NYPD crime statistics. Ten major crimes have been reported within the Central Park Precinct as of April 9, 2017, compared to five at the same date in 2016, according to NYPD statistics.

Photo by Patch