Mugger seen rifling through pockets of man beaten unconscious in violent New York attack

Man appeared unconscious after assault on Saturday morning

Police in New York City are appealing for help following a violent robbery in which a victim was knocked unconscious by a hooded figure, who ran from the scene.

The incident took place on Saturday morning in the Cypress Hills area of Brooklyn, and south of Highland Park, according to the the New York Police Department.

CCTV footage released by the Crime Stoppers unit on Saturday shows a man in a grey hoodie violently punching a victim who appeared to have been thrown from his Citi bike, which could be seen by his side.

The robber continued punching the victim, who was forced to the ground after initially attempting to defend himself.

The hooded figure finished-off by throwing a black bag at the victim’ and kicking his head. That appeared to have knocked-out the man, who was not identified.

The footage finishes with the robber removing items from the man’s front and back pockets, and running off. It was not clear what was stolen, or its worth.

A $3,500 (£2,538) reward is being offered and anyone with information is asked to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers. The video has also been viewed more than 450,000 times on Twitter.

The attack follows other highly publicised violent robberies in recent weeks, with an attack carried out against a 61-year-old woman on a subway platform in Harlem last week.

She required hospital treatment and according to police, had her credit cards and her mobility walker stolen by a three individuals. CCTV footage caught the attack, and showed them kicking the woman.

Statistics from the NYPD last month revealed that arrests in the city are down 35 per cent on the same period last year, although incidents such as shootings, car thefts, and burglarise are higher than in 2020.