Woman says man tried to bite eye out during assault at NY liquor store

She was transported to Harlem Hospital after witnesses called 911. Treated and released, she reportedly still can't open her eye.

Biba Adams

Jan 22, 2021

A New York City woman is claiming that one of three men who attacked her outside of a Harlem liquor store early this week tried to bite her eye out.

The unidentified 31-year-old woman said she was buying a bottle of wine at a shop on West 128th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue Monday night when a man inside, one of a trio, offered to pay for her purchase.

A woman in New York City claims a man tried to bite her eye out — A woman in New York City is claiming that one of the three men who recently attacked her outside of a Harlem liquor store tried to bite her eye out. (CBS2)

“I politely declined, and I said, ‘No, thank you, but thank you; I can pay for it myself.’ And I got ready to walk out,” the woman told CBS2’s Lisa Rozner. “Before I walk out, he basically said that he felt like I thought I was better than them.”

In the exclusive interview with the local news outlet, the woman said the men followed her outside of the store, questioning her. She says she realized the men were trying to provoke a fight with her, and she ran. The men chased her across the street, she said, where they kicked her, and one of them bit her forehead and tried to bite her eye out.

“To bite me, and do that — maul me the way that he did — with me screaming and saying ‘I’m just trying to get my daughter,'” she said. “That — that’s an animal. That’s not a person.”

The woman said the men took her cell phone.

She was transported to Harlem Hospital after witnesses called 911. She was treated and released, maintaining that she is still not able to open her eye.

Surveillance video capturing the suspected assailants has been released; they were each photographed inside the store with their masks below their nose and mouth.

New York City Police are asking witnesses with any tips to call their Crime Stoppers hotline to identify the men and help lead to their arrest. The victim in this case says someone told her that they had committed similar crimes in the past.

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