NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Searches continue for men who attacked a woman outside a Harlem liquor store, and now the community is showing support for the victim.
A large crowd lined 128th Street in Harlem on Saturday night, many of them standing directly in front of a liquor store where a 31-year-old mother was brutally beaten on Monday.
The demonstration was the end of a rally that began three blocks away, as women, men and children stood in the corner, speaking out against violence targeting the neighborhood.
“If we don’t, who is? It is our responsibility, it is our duty to protect the women and children of our community, ”said Omar Jackson, director of Stand Against Violence East Harlem.
“It could have been me, my daughters, my mother, any woman,” East Harlem resident Tamika Foster told CBS2’s Cory James. “The community as a whole, we all need to stay together.”
Earlier this week, Lisa Rozner of CBS2 spoke exclusively with the woman who was assaulted.
MORE – Exclusive: The woman brutally attacked at the Harlem liquor store says the suspect tried to bite her eyes: “This is an animal. She’s not a person
She says she bought a bottle of wine inside an alcohol store when one of the men offered to pay, but politely refused.
After she left the store and left the store, the woman says that the man and two others ran across the street, then kicked her. One of them even bit her forehead.
Police say a woman was assaulted and robbed by three people after an argument at a liquor store in Harlem on January 18, 2021. (Credit: NYPD Crime Stoppers)
“No matter how much I asked, you know, I’m trying to get to my daughter, please leave me alone, I said I’ll call the police. He doesn’t care about that. He had only one thing on his mind and that was to attack me. That’s what he wanted to do, “Rozner’s victim told him.
Members of the victim’s family attended Saturday’s rally in support of their cousin, who they say is still traumatized.
“People can’t believe they can do what they want to do. It doesn’t mean no, “said Laroya Smalls’ cousin.
“No sense, no reason, he didn’t even know them,” said cousin Sybil Smalls. “We need them caught. This is our main goal. ”
Police hope that the surveillance footage will help to achieve this, so that the woman who was attacked can be right and restore her sense of security.
“I definitely want to see him imprisoned, if not imprisoned for what he did to me because I didn’t deserve it,” the victim said.
One of the men accused in the attack also allegedly stole the victim’s iPhone.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 or for Spanish, 1-888-577-4782. Tips can also be sent to NYPD Tips Twitter account or sent online to NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.
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