By Gus Saltonstall
A man was indicted this week and charged with multiple counts of assault for allegedly punching an 81-year-old woman on the Upper West Side in September, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced.
Hansel Esparragoza, 37, was charged in New York State Supreme Court on Monday with one count of assault in the second degree and one count of assault in the third degree, according to the DA’s Office.
“As alleged, Hansel Esparragoza punched an 81-year-old woman in the face in an unprovoked attack, causing her to lose consciousness and fall to the ground,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a news release. “New Yorkers deserve to be safe when they are going about their daily lives walking through their neighborhoods, and we will continue to prosecute those who threaten their safety. I hope the victim continues to heal from this assault.”
On the evening of September 13, the woman was walking her son’s dog on West 66th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. She was standing still on the sidewalk when the attack occurred. Esparragoza, a Staten Island resident, initially walked by her, but then turned around and punched her in the face, according to the Manhattan DA.
Esparragoza then continued to walk down the Upper West Side block while bystanders called an ambulance for the woman, who was treated at a hospital for a fractured nose and concussion. She has no memory of the attack, the Manhattan DA added.
Esparragoza was eventually apprehended and arrested on October 3 in a Staten Island deli, after an employee recognized him from news coverage and called the police, Bragg said.
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here.
Good, but I want to know if he’s free to roam the streets while they wait for a trial, or is he locked up?
Staten Island is not sending their best….
If that were me, I would want him indicted for attempted murder.
This shows the importance of local news. Glad he was caught. Glad she is ok. Wonder what was going on that he punched some woman .
I will say again: wouldn’t it have been better to get this man proper mental health treatment in the first place so that no one had to get punched in the face at all?
He’s not going to jail for life for a D felony and when he’s out on the street again he will be in even worse condition.
Isn’t it true that many people who need proper mental health treatment refuse it, or refuse to stick with it? I think for the good of those individuals and for the good of the rest of the population, expanding the range of involuntary commitments to institutions is the only realistic goal. But I don’t know how progress toward that goal can ever be made, given the conjunction of lack of space, lack of funds, and advocates who ignore the link between tilting toward liberty of many potentially dangerous mentally ill people and the outcome that those mentally ill are homeless – and, too often, perpetrators or victims of crime.