MANHATTAN — A Manhattan man who pleaded guilty to dragging a 65-year-old woman and her 93-year-old mother down a flight of stairs in a Washington Heights apartment building last summer was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced.
The two women were visiting the mother's childhood home on Aug. 20 when they were approached by Richard Davidson, 26, according to the DA's office.
Claiming to live in the second-floor apartment once occupied by 93-year-old Majorie Ramondetta, Davidson led Ramondetta and daughter Linda Reynolds upstairs, according to the New York Post.
Upstairs, Davidson grabbed the women's purses and dragged them down the stairs, leaving them with significant injuries, officials said.
“It is shameful that a family trip to a childhood home ended in senseless violence,” Vance said in a statement. “My office will continue to prosecute those who commit violent crime in our city, particularly against the most vulnerable New Yorkers.”
Davidson was convicted of two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of fourth-degree grand larceny, and after his release will be on probation for five years, officials said.
Furious about the ordeal Davidson put her elderly mother through, Reynolds spoke in court Tuesday.
“He took the spunk and the spirit away from my mother. I don’t know how long she has to live but I resent him,” she said, according to the Post.
The career criminal with 21 prior arrests, who robbed a total of four people that day, apologized to Reynolds, the Post reported.
“I just want to apologize for everything I did. I wasn’t sober and I hope I learned my lesson,” he said.
