The NYPD is seeking the public’s help to identify a male suspect who allegedly slashed a 31-year-old woman across her face before robbing her Sunday morning. The suspect approached the victim, Dana Sagona of Queens, near Boerum and White streets in Williamsburg at approximately 7:45 a.m., when the suspect made a comment on her looks and offered a marriage proposal.
Sagona works as a city librarian and was waiting for a cab to Manhattan to volunteer at an animal shelter when the assault and robbery occurred. She described the incident to the NY Daily News:
She described him as an unkempt man wearing baggy jeans, possibly Latino and in his 50s.
“I saw him walk past me in the opposite direction,” she said. “He checked me out. He looked me up and down, and I looked away. He was actually gross.”
After they passed each other, the suspect doubled back about five minutes later as Sagona waited for her ride, which at that point was just two minutes away, she said.
“He looked me up and down again and pretended to be on his phone,” she said. “He was saying, ‘I’m looking at this beautiful woman. I’m going to marry her.’”
After slashing Sagona’s face during their street struggle, the suspect ran off with her phone and backpack, she said. He took her keys, $4, a MetroCard and a wallet worth $600.
Sagona recalled standing near the corner, bleeding and stunned from the assault, when an Uber pulled up. She said its driver practically ignored her as she pounded on the window for help.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.