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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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73-Year-Old Struck in Face for Telling Woman Not to Smoke, Police Say

 A woman was charged with attempted felony assault for hitting a 73-year-old woman in the face.
A woman was charged with attempted felony assault for hitting a 73-year-old woman in the face.
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WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A woman was arrested for striking a 73-year-old woman in the face inside a NYCHA building for seniors after the victim told her she could not smoke inside the residence, authorities and the victim said.

The victim, who did not want to be named, said she saw Janet Diaz, 28, enter the Thurgood Marshall Plaza for Seniors at 1970 Amsterdam Ave. with a bottle of alcohol and a lit cigarette at about 1:30 p.m. on June 2, according to the victim and the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

When she told Diaz she could not smoke inside the building, Diaz yelled at her, the victim explained. Another resident then tried to intervene, but Diaz became more agitated, she said.

“I was standing there and she just hauled off and hit me. Thank god I had my glasses on. Otherwise she would have hit me right in the eye,” the woman told DNAinfo, saying her glasses helped to lessen the blow.

Diaz was arrested a short time later near the building. She was charged with attempted assault, a felony due to the victim's age.

Diaz is currently being held on $500 bail, according to the DA’s office. She is due back in court on June 8.

Her lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.