According to NYPD police, a homeless guy was apprehended on Friday for randomly and unprovokedly sucker-punching a 94-year-old customer inside an Apple store on the Upper East Side.
Lewis Reynolds, 31, was apprehended by police when a sergeant saw him in Midtown at around 12:10 a.m. and identified him from a wanted notice, according to police.
According to officials, police accused him of assault. He has never been arrested in New York City before.
At approximately 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, he is accused of barging into an Apple store on Madison Ave. and E. 74th St. and silently socking his elderly victim in the face.
He struck his victim, fled down Madison Avenue, and vanished.
His victim said he didn’t need medical help despite having minor wounds. He claimed to the police that he didn’t know Reynolds and hadn’t spoken to him before the assault.
On Friday, Reynold was still awaiting his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.
The arrest was praised by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Friday morning’s Good Day New York on Fox 5.
Tisch described the attack as distressing and stated, “The good news is that we made an arrest in that case and got the person responsible last night while you were sleeping.”
While the reason behind Reynolds’ outburst was still unknown, Tisch stated that the majority of random attackers in the city are experiencing a mental health crisis.
“We must take care of these people,” she continued. In order to care for and treat people with mental health concerns, New York State needs a different strategy; the police department cannot be counted upon to handle everything.
