Exclusive | 94-year-old NYC woman bludgeoned in random Oculus attack: Wish I was a little younger so I couldve beaten him
A maniacal homeless man allowed to roam NYC even after randomly attacking a teenager in November has struck again — bludgeoning a 94-year-old retired teacher inside the Oculus transit hub, The Post has learned.Audrey Harkins was in the iconic station to catch the E train around 9:30 a.m.on June 5 when a stranger crept up behind her and clubbed her with a metallic object, she told The Post this week. “The city is a mess,” said Harkins, a feisty Battery Park City resident who stands 4-foot-11 and weighs 115 pounds soaking wet.“I wish I was a little younger so I could’ve chased and beaten him.” She was on her way to an exercise class and was standing atop an escalator when the sneak attack unfolded.
“All of a sudden two whacks on the back of my head,” recalled Harkins, who taught in Long Island public schools for 30 years.“At first I thought he hit me with his hands,” the lifelong New Yorker said.“But the Port Authority detective said, ‘No, he had two heavy pieces of metal, one in each hand.’”“It bled profusely,” said Harkins, who used paper towels to blot the wound while waiting for an ambulance. She never saw his face but watched as he “skipped away,” she said.
A Good Samaritan who witnessed the attack described what she saw to police, said Harkins.Cops believe recidivist Edwin Wright was the attacker and are still looking for him, police sources said.Wright, 39, whose last known address was a Bowery homeless shelter and who has five prior arrests, was already wanted on a bench warrant for a random November assault that happened nearby, police sources said. That time, the 5-foot-11, 210-pound Wright allegedly punched a 15-year-old girl in the back of the neck at Broadway and John Street as she walked to school around 8 a.m.Nov.
21, police sources said.Wright was charged with two counts of assault, one count of attempted assault and one count of harassment, according to a criminal complaint.But Manhattan Criminal Court Judge...