A random liquid attack on a man in New York City was caught on surveillance video and police are looking for a suspect they believe is a homeless man.
The incident unfolded after 10 p.m. on July 5.
Elmar Garscha says he was walking home after work in the Diamond District when a man ran up behind him and splashed a container of unknown liquid on his back.
“I realized there was a guy following me and he was maybe 10 feet behind me, rushing towards me,” Garscha said to WABC-TV.
The 57-year-old Garscha suffered serious burns when he was hit with the scalding hot liquid.
“The injuries are extensive, and it doesn’t look that big of a cup,” Garscha said. “He burned my entire back with second-degree burn, over my shoulders.”
Garscha was treated in a burn unit for his injuries.
“The physical pain I can deal with,” he said. “It’s the fact that you know somebody’s out there to get you. Somebody wants to hurt you on purpose. And the guy laughed in my face, and ran away. He smiled at me, like, ‘Gotcha.’ That’s what really got to me.”
The shirtless man fled after the attack. Police said they were looking for a man about 5-foot-7 weighing about 130 pounds.They believe the man is homeless.
Garscha said he has worked as a jeweler in Midtown Manhattan for two decades, but that he would no longer take the subway late at night.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has been criticized heavily for the growing homeless crisis in the city. In 2019, he was lambasted by critics for opening up the lottery for spaces in homeless shelters to illegal aliens.
“It’s just the latest idiotic idea to come out of this administration,” said NYC councilman Eric Ulrich at the time.
Here’s the video of the heinous attack:
Man suffers burns in random liquid attack on NYC sidewalk
www.youtube.com