NYC stroller mom recounts horrifying park attack by crazed criminal: ‘I thought I was going to die"

The Bobster

Senior News Editor since 2004


NYC stroller mom recounts horrifying park attack by crazed criminal: ‘I thought I was going to die’​



By
Steven Vago,

Haley Brown,

Larry Celona and

Jorge Fitz-Gibbon


October 18, 2022 7:44pm
Updated









New Yorkers reflect on crime and safety in the city



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The Manhattan mom brutally attacked by a crazed criminal as she pushed her tot in a stroller described the horrifying ordeal to The Post on Tuesday — and demanded to know why the suspect was even on the streets.
“I thought I was going to die because he was choking me at one point,” said the 43-year-old mother of two, who was with her 2-year-old daughter when she was suddenly randomly assaulted in Hudson River Park in Chelsea on Monday.
“I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t get out,’’ said the mom, an adjunct professor at a city college who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“I don’t want to be here anymore,” added the woman, who has been in the city off and on for about 20 years. “I want to leave. This doesn’t feel safe. Since the pandemic, everything has changed in this area.
“My daughter is 2 years old, and she’s sitting there in silence as the guy is choking me and punching me and saying, ‘F–k the NYPD,’ “ said the married mom, who also has a 4-month-old daughter.
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“He said something to me like, ‘I’m sorry. I just want to die by suicide by cop.’ I was like, ‘You don’t have to do this.’ “

The mom demanded to know why the suspect was even on the streets.The NYC mom was brutally attacked in Hudson River Park.Getty Images
Police said Argenis Rivera, a 33-year-old career criminal with at least a dozen arrests on his rap sheet, committed the brazen broad-daylight attack — and even slugged and choked a second woman at the park moments later.


He has a history of psychiatric issues and was initially taken to Bellevue Hospital for a mental exam, law-enforcement sources said.


The sources said Rivera was last arrested in August, when he allegedly slugged a doorman in Midtown Manhattan — but was released because the charges are not eligible for bail under the state’s controversial criminal-justice reforms.


On Monday, he allegedly assaulted both women as they lounged at the Chelsea park and was arrested at a nearby bus stop after a brief struggle with police.


“I think it’s really messed up that he’s still out there, and I don’t know what’s going on in the city,” said the injured mom, whose nose was bruised in the attack.


“I thought it would get better with [Mayor Eric] Adams, but it doesn’t seem to be getting better,’’ she said. “I just don’t think the [police] patrolling is enough, the outreach for mentally ill people is enough.


“This was right around 12:45 on a weekday when I was attacked,” she added. “There was no police presence. … I didn’t think in this area I would have this problem. They should be around.

Rivera has at least a dozen arrests on his rap sheet. Argenis Rivera punched and choked another woman moments later. Getty Images/iStockphoto
“If they were more present, maybe I wouldn’t have been in a chokehold for that long or maybe he wouldn’t have tried it.”


A witness filmed her being attacked, capturing her screams for help, and gave her the footage, she said.


She said the suspect followed her after the assault and called her a “white bitch.’’


“I know people who live in Harlem who are like ‘I don’t want to go to your area. Your area is too sketchy for me,’ “ the woman lamented.








She said she regularly takes her 2-year-old daughter to the park — but is not so sure about doing that anymore.


“This is a park I go to twice a week with my kid to get her fresh air,” she said. “Now I don’t know if I want to go back there.”


Cops said the attacks on both women were unprovoked.


“It was so wild that it was surreal,” the second victim told The Post on Tuesday. “I was confused. And then I just couldn’t believe that that was happening. It felt surreal the whole time.


“He choked me and tried to harm me with his keys and punched me,” the 37-year-old victim said, also asking to remain anonymous. “I’m still a little shell-shocked.


“When he had his keys to my throat, he said, ‘I don’t give a f–k,’ “ she recalled. “ ‘Call the cops. F–k gentrification. F–k that white bitch.’ “


The woman said she was “reading on the lawn” at the park when she first saw the mom attacked nearby.


“When he was yelling at the woman, and she was running away, I thought maybe he was just having an episode and she just happened to walk in his path,” she said. “I didn’t realize that she was also assaulted right before.

Critics say that Adams has not done enough to curb crime. New Yorkers have condemned Eric Adams for the increase in crime. Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA
“And then he just came up behind me and choked me and held keys to my throat,” she said. “And now I know they’re keys, but I couldn’t see them. And he did the same thing, I guess, he did to her, which was punch me.”


She said a good Samaritan who was walking his dogs in the park came to her aid after seeing the attack unfold.


She described the dog walker as a “really kind man.


“I saw this guy coming with the dogs,” she recalled. “He just looked at me, and he was very kind and said, ‘I got you. Don’t worry, I got you.’


“He starts yelling at the guy, and the guy is backing away, but he’s still screaming. He’s really unwell. He was very angry.”


She said the dog walker told her to call 911.


“I hadn’t even thought of it,” she said.


When cops showed up minutes later, she “just saw them descend on [the attacker], and he was resisting arrest,” she said.


Rivera was charged with assault, strangulation, criminal obstruction of breathing, menacing and weapons possession.


He was awaiting arraignment late Tuesday.
 


‘Call the cops’: Man accused of choking NYC stroller mom taunted victim​



By
Elizabeth Rosner and

Mark Lungariello


October 19, 2022 12:09pm
Updated













The madman who allegedly choked a mom pushing her tot in a stroller and then attacked a second woman in a Manhattan park taunted one of his victims to “call the cops, I don’t care,” prosecutors said Wednesday.
Career criminal Argenis Rivera, 33, was ordered held on $25,000 bail on charges of strangulation, assault and endangering the welfare of a child for the random attacks on two strangers in Hudson River Park in Chelsea on Monday.
Rivera approached the first woman just before 1 p.m. as she ran with her 2-year-old in a stroller, wrapped his arms around her neck and squeezed, according to the criminal complaint against him.
He then punched her in the face, causing a cut to her upper lip, the complaint states.
The stroller nearly tipped over, but the child wasn’t injured, according to prosecutors.
The 43-year-old mother of two thought she “was going to die,” she told The Post on Tuesday.
Argenis Rivera stands swaying at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Oct. 19, 2022.Argenis Rivera at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Oct. 19, 2022.Pool Photo/Curtis Means
“I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t get out,” she said, adding that she was considering leaving the Big Apple because it “doesn’t feel safe.”
Rivera allegedly told her during the attack he wanted to “die by suicide,” she said.
“My daughter is 2 years old, and she’s sitting there in silence as the guy is choking me and punching me and saying ‘F—k the NYPD,’” she recalled.
Rivera was ordered held on $25,000 bail at his court appearance.Rivera was ordered held on $25,000 bail at his court appearance.Pool Photo/Curtis Means
Rivera then moved on to the second victim, who was sitting nearby and held “something sharp to her neck,” according to the complaint against him.
“F—k you, bitch; go ahead and call the cops, I don’t care,” Rivera allegedly said before he put his hands around her neck and squeezed.
“Then the defendant laid on top of the woman punching her in the face,” Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Brianna DeMilia said in court.
The 37-year-old victim told The Post on Tuesday that Rivera was rambling and shouting out “f—k gentrification” and “f—k that white bitch.”
When cops took Rivera into custody near a bus stop close to the park, he flailed his arms and allegedly hit one of the arresting officers in the face, DeMilia added.
Argenis Rivera allegedly attacked two strangers in Hudson River Park, prosecutors said.Argenis Rivera allegedly attacked two strangers in Hudson River Park, prosecutors said.Getty Images/iStockphoto
At his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court Wednesday, Rivera stood silently, swaying back and forth as public defender Jonathan Ko requested his client be put on suicide watch.
Rivera has a long rap sheet and history of mental health issues, sources previously told The Post.



He has been arrested 12 times before, including an August arrest when he clocked a Midtown Manhattan building doorman, sources said. Rivera was released on that attack because it wasn’t bail eligible, according to sources.


He is due back in court Oct. 21.
 
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