**Warning: Graphic Video**
ELMHURST — A man posing as a cab driver tossed a young mom's baby to the ground and elbowed her toddler in the head after trying to sexually assault her in a violent attack caught on surveillance video, according to police.
The suspect drove the 26-year-old woman and her kids, aged 1, 3 and 5, from Inwood to Elmhurst about 3 a.m. Sunday, police said.
After stopping the car behind 7900 Queens Blvd., the former Pan Am Hotel that reopened as a homeless shelter in June, he tried to sexually assault her with the children still in the car, police said.
The terrifying video, which starts just after the attempted sex attack, shows the driver calmly getting out of the car holding the oldest child as a bystander walked by.
He then went to the passenger side of the car to grab the mom out of her seat as she held her 1-year-old baby.
Both the suspect and the mom then struggled to open the back door of the car — where the victim's 3-year-old was sitting — and during the scuffle the suspect elbowed the 5-year-old in the head, knocking the child over, the video shows.
He then ran around to the front of the car to grab the 3-year-old out of the back seat, and threw the child on the street.
The driver and the victim continued to fight as the children looked on, and he drove away as the mother — who held one of her children by the arm — held on to the open passenger door.
The children were taken to Elmhurst Hospital with minor injuries, police said.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeless Services said the agency is focusing on making sure the family "has the right support structure in place to deal with this crisis."
"This was an unconscionable act committed against a mother and her children," the spokesman said.
Officials said the shelter in the former hotel has cameras and 24-hour security.
A witness who said he was at the shelter Sunday morning but declined to give his name said the woman was "distraught" after the incident, and that one of the young children was "roughed up."
The suspect is described as a man in his 40s, with manicured eyebrows and an earring in his right ear, according to police. He was seen wearing a dark blue sweat suit with white stripes.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.