A man captured on surveillance camera brutally shoving an elderly woman to the ground in New York City is a career criminal with over 100 arrests to his name.
The alleged suspect in the random attack has been identified as 31-year-old Rashid Brimmage and was arrested for his 103rd time on Tuesday. His first arrest dates back to 2005 after committing petty crimes and sex offenses, Fox News reported.
Brimmage has been charged with assault after investigators received a tip that led to his arrest, New York Police Department officials said.
According to police sources, Brimmage is a registered sex offender and a career criminal with charges that include assault, harassment, resisting arrest, and persistent sexual abuse.
Prior to his June 16 arrest, his latest arrest was on March 9, when he was busted in Manhattan with criminal possession of a controlled substance and punching a man in Harlem. The New York City Criminal Court gave him a desk appearance ticket (DAT) and ordered to return to court at the end of July.
One month earlier, NYPD arrested Brimmage for allegedly punching two victims in their late 30s at a Dunkin’ Donuts in the Bronx, police sources state.
Police said apart from his many criminal offenses of assault, he became a level 2 sex offender after sexual misconduct in 2012 and two sex offenses in 2014.
‘I’m Afraid to Go Out’
In the surveillance footage, 92-year-old Geraldine—a Manhattan resident for more than 50 years—is seen walking on Third Avenue at about 3:30 p.m. last Friday when she suddenly gets pushed to the ground by Brimmage for no apparent reason.
Brimmage is seen turning himself, having a glimpse at the elderly woman who was struggling to get up. But he turns his back to the lady and walks away.
????WANTED for ASSAULT: Do you know him? On 6/12 at 3:23 PM, on 3rd Avenue between 15th Street & 16th Street in Manhattan, he pushed a 92-year-old female to the ground causing her to strike her head on a fire hydrant. Have info? Call/DM @NYPDTips at 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/SjTltmuNbb
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 16, 2020
Geraldine is a retired teacher and said during an interview with ABC7 she is too scared to walk alone in her own neighborhood following the incident. “I’ve felt very safe in the city, and now, forget it,” she said. “I’m afraid to go out.”
The woman said she hit a fire hydrant after falling to the ground.
“I thought it was a brick or something like that,” she told the ABC affiliate. “Hit me on the right scalp, on the right side of my head, and of course I fell down on the street. There were a couple of young women there. They helped me up. They said, ‘I’m going to call an ambulance.’”
