A Queens man was indicted in Brooklyn Supreme Court Thursday after being arrested last month for the brutal assault and mugging of a 68-year-old man in East New York, the Brooklyn District Attorney announced Thursday.
Zamori Simmons, 21, of Jamaica, Queens, faces assault and robbery charges for the July 24 attack on the senior citizen.
“This defendant allegedly unleashed an unprovoked and violent assault on an elderly man and continued to beat and rob him as he laid unconscious,” District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “Such abhorrent and cruel behavior shocks the conscience, and we will now work to make sure that the defendant pays a steep price for his criminal actions.”
Surveillance video released by the NYPD showed the man identified as Simmons repeatedly punching the victim, whom cops and the DA have not publicly identified, at the corner of Pitkin Avenue and Barbey Street in East New York the morning of July 24. Simmons allegedly continued to punch the man after he fell to the ground, then stomped on his head. As the man lay on the ground, he looted his pockets, the video shows.
The DA says that Simmons yanked a necklace off the man’s neck, and pilfered his cell phone before absconding on a Citi Bike. The victim, who was knocked unconscious by the attacker, was transported to Brookdale Hospital where he was treated for a broken wrist, orbital fractures, and other assorted injuries.
The altercation began after a woman being confronted by Simmons asked the elderly man for help, the DA says.
Simmons was identified after the NYPD released partial surveillance footage of the attack, offering a $3,500 reward. The DA says that an anonymous tipster came forward to identify Simmons, who was arrested on Aug. 5 after voluntarily surrendering to cops.
Simmons is being held on a $20,000 bond or $10,000 cash bail, and his next court date is Oct. 14. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
