PARK SLOPE — A 250-pound mugger armed with a gun put a 91-year-old woman in a chokehold Wednesday afternoon and dragged her into her apartment building as she begged him to stop, police said.
The man, who's also wanted for pistol-whipping a 70-year-old woman in a Feb. 11 robbery, came up behind Elizabeth Gioino as she entered 555 Ninth St., half a block from Prospect Park, about 1 p.m. and asked if she knew someone named Jack or Jacques before pushing her into the vestibule while demanding her money, she said.
"He pulled a gun and then he choked me again — three times. He hit me and said, 'Shut up, shut up,'" Gioino told reporters in the Ninth Street building which she owns.
The elderly woman begged for the hulking mugger to stop, she said.
"I said, 'I don't have no money. Can you leave me alone? I'm a sickly woman,'" she said.
"Please, leave me alone. I'm a sick woman. I've got bad knees," Gioino, who has lived in the same building for 45 years, told him.
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But he wouldn't let up, she said.
"Please, give me some money," he demanded, according to Gioino. She gave him what she had: about $170.
Then her 50-year-old downstairs neighbor, whom she called Michael, came into the vestibule and saw the scene, police said. The suspect spun the gun on him and stole another $100, Gioino said.
The suspect fled and was not immediately arrested, police said.
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The mugger is in his 40s, about 5-feet-11-inches tall and 250 pounds, police said. He wore a dark hoodie, a black jacket, a black wool cap, black gloves, dark shoes and light pants, police said.
On Feb. 11, the suspect broke into a home near Prospect Place and Sixth Avenue and pistol-whipped a 71-year-old woman in the head before stealing $370, according to an NYPD flier taped up in the neighborhood.
Investigators are trying to see if he's behind any other robberies as well, an NYPD spokesman said.
Police are offering $2,500 for information about the suspect.
Gioino, who neighbors said used to do regular touch ups around the apartment building, refused medical attention at the scene, according to an NYPD spokesman.
"I'm OK. I'm a sick woman. I don't know what to do," Gioino said.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).
