16-year-old arrested for allegedly shoving woman down NYC church stairs

QUEENS - A 16-year-old suspect was arrested in connection to the shocking assault and robbery of a 68-year-old woman caught on surveillance video Sunday in front of a Queens church, the NYPD said.

The suspect is facing charges of robbery, assault, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. 

"To do this horrendous act of pushing her with force from the church’s steps, that’s unheard of, like to do that in a church," Father Konstantinos Kalogridis said.

Assault, robbery caught on video

The 68-year-old suffered a fractured skull and a black eye after the NYPD said she was punched and shoved down the stairs while she was on her way to church.

The attack happened around 8:20 a.m. on the steps of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, located at 84-35 152nd St. in the Briarwood section.

Surveillance video shows the woman heading up the stairs when the suspect, dressed in all black, is seen running up behind her. 

That's when the woman is punched and sent flying down the stairs.

According to police, the suspect appeared to rummage through the woman's belongings as she laid on the ground. 

The suspect took off with her purse, which had $300 in cash in it, as well as her cellphone and car keys – then sped off in her car. She is in stable condition at a hospital. Police said the suspect has multiple felony arrests, including robberies of women.

"A teenager who has had multiple felony arrests, robberies of women, and yet he is walking around the streets," NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said in a post on X.