Neighbors in Little Italy say they are worried for their safety after a woman was punched by a stranger, seemingly at random.
“I just got punched in the face by a homeless man, knocked to the floor,” Camille Aspite said in a video posted on social media moments after the attack.
The incident, which has drawn a lot of attention on social media, happened Tuesday afternoon near the intersection of India and Cedar streets. Aspite said that she and her friend had just left The Market by Buon Appetito and were crossing the street when an unknown man, who appeared to be homeless, punched her in the face.
“It was in that instance that he held up his arm, and I saw last hand,” Aspite said. “That’s why it hit this side of my face because I was turning. I think of my instinct of seeing it happen, and then I flew off the curb.”
She said it seemed as if the man was going to swing at her again while she was on the ground.
“I don’t know what stopped him from doing it when I was on the floor, and then he starts walking away, and then he starts shouting at me like profanities,” Aspite said.
The impact from the attack left her with some physical and emotional scars.
“I had swelling on this side of my face, and I couldn’t really open my mouth because it’s right on my jawline,” she said. “So I just had pain there the past few days and just had an ongoing headache. Getting punched in the face, caught off guard, that was really, really traumatic.”
Her friend Zach Sanato also lives in Little Italy. He showed NBC 7 video of who they both claim is the alleged attacker.
“Little Italy is prominent for the businesses, the culture, the restaurants, and for something to happen in your backyard, so to speak, of that nature, it’s extremely upsetting,” Sanato said.
Other neighbors like Melissa Burke also worry for their safety.
“I would like to see more police presence,” Burke said. “I would like to see things, when this does happen, that there’s actual action taking place.”
Aspite said she filed a report with police on Thursday. NBC 7 reached out to the Little Italy Association for comment and are awaiting a response.