A teenager was arrested on Thursday, April 11, after pushing a 68-year-old Greek woman down the steps of her local church in Queens, New York.
The 16-year-old was also charged with robbery and assault, after snatching the parishioner’s purse and stealing her cash, mobile phone, credit card and car keys.
He escaped the scene of the crime in her 2006 Nissan Altima.
The New York Post revealed that the woman, Irene Tahliambouris was on her way in to the Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Briarwood, Queens, where the incident took place.
Surveillance footage of the crime has also been captured. The 16-year-old, whose identity cannot be revealed as he is a minor, was additionally charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
A relative of Ms Tahliambouris, Daniel Coffaro Hill, made a post on social media following the incident.
“This lowlife is off our streets for now, and we are hoping the system will actually do its job this time. We’re tired of seeing criminals walk free because of our soft on crime laws,” Mr Hill said.
“This thug is another example of how petty criminals feel bold enough to escalate their crimes, knowing they’ll likely get off with a slap on the wrist. Despite this, there seems to be a lack of urgency from both Albany and NYC to implement the necessary legal reforms to ensure these individuals are held accountable.”
Ms Tahliambouris is currently in hospital under critical condition.
Reverent Konstantinos Kalogridis also made a comment on the incident.
“[Parishioners] were shocked because we don’t have incidents like that here in this area of the neighbourhood,” the Reverent said.
“There was fear, they were angry and sad for the woman as she went through this.”
Source: New York Post.
