Four New York City teens who attempted to rob a senior citizen on her way to New Year’s Day church services got a surprise when they messed around and found out that their target was not going to let go of her purse without a fight.
According to The New York Post, 71-year-old Linda Rosa was approached by her teenage attackers, who tried to grab her purse as she was leaving a Brooklyn subway station around 6:00 pm. But the retired transit worker says she held on to her bag and did her best to defend herself.
“And then I [said to myself], ‘Oh, no, this is not going to happen today,’” Rosa said.
As she held on to her purse, Rosa told The Post that one of the suspects punched her in the face and knocked her glasses to the ground. Still trying to defend herself, she tried to kick one of the attackers, but fell leaving one of the teens to “stomp on her.”
“I got an impression in me that she was going to stomp me again, but she was going to aim towards my head,” Rosa said. “So I got up right away, and with that, I grabbed her braids and twirled them around my right hand, and then I pulled her down. She had her head down. Then the other young lady said, ‘Let her go.’ And I said, ‘Oh, no, I’m not letting her go.’”
Rosa said she called for help and the teens ran up the stairs to the street. As of this post, the suspects are still on the loose. Ms. Rosa eventually made her way to Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, where staff members called 911 so emergency medical personnel could take her to the hospital for treatment.
Rosa says she is grateful the frightening encounter didn’t cause her to have a more serious health issue, and adds that she’s willing to give the young people who came after her some grace.
“I forgive them. They do not know what they do,” she said. “They don’t know what they did. It’s just teenagers acting foolish.”