QUEENS — A man with a long criminal record has been charged with critically injuring a woman during a brutal mugging in Flushing, officials said.
Brian Rodriguez, 35, allegedly punched the 37-year-old victim, who may not survive, in the head and ran off with her pocketbook while she lay unconcious in front of 144-31 41st Ave. last Saturday.
Rodriguez has been arrested at least 20 times, police said, eight of those times for robbery or grand larceny.
He was arrested last year for punching and robbing two women in Queens, but was cleared of those charges when the women couldn’t identify him during trial, according to the New York Post.
According to court documents, he approached his victim from behind and knocked her to the ground with a savage blow around 1 a.m. on Oct. 21.
The woman was rushed to Flushing Hospital, police said.
She has since been transferred to the neurological intensive care unit of North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset where she is battling “an unrecoverable brain injury” and is soon expected to be pronounced brain dead, documents said.
Rodriguez was arraigned Monday on assault and robbery charges and is due to appear in court again on Nov. 5.
