NEW YORK — A woman says she fought off three men who tried to rob her while she was riding her bicycle through Central Park on Sunday night.
Katherine Marroquin said the men confronted her and struck her in the head as she biked through the park. Police said the incident occurred near West 93rd Street and West Drive.
Marroquin believes the group was looking for valuables.
“I think they were trying to like, steal phones, maybe and they just saw me, saw the bike. They were like, ‘oh, money,'” she said.
The 32-year-old building maintenance worker bought the bicycle last year to commute between the Bronx and Manhattan. She had believed cycling would be safer than riding the subway.
She said the attack unfolded in a poorly lit area, where the men appeared without warning.
“It’s just… they were hiding somewhere, like it was really dark and they waited for me to lean down and wait. And then they appeared,” Marroquin said.
Marroquin said the three men came out from behind bushes near the running track by the Central Park reservoir shortly before 10 p.m.
She had stopped after dropping her AirPods, she said.
“I ride bike. I heard my AirPods, but there was nobody in front. Nobody in front. It was empty. I went and reached, but when I went back to get up, that’s when they hit me,” she said.
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According to Marroquin, the men surrounded her and started searching through her belongings.
“There were three guys. The two guys grabbed my book bag, and he started emptying my book bag right in front of me. So when he empty my book bag, I think he didn’t notice that my Stanley cup was there and he threw it right in front of me,” she said.
She picked up the stainless steel tumbler and used it as a weapon to protect herself.
“The first thing I know was like, is it my life or them… it’s three people by myself. I got to defend myself. I didn’t think about money or anything. I thought about my life and seeing my mom again. So, I grabbed the cup and I hit one of the guys in the head. So that’s why they ran, and they left me alone,” Marroquin said.
Marroquin said her backpack and helmet helped shield her from much of the assault.
Looking back, she said she was determined not to give up the belongings she had worked to afford.
The NYPD released surveillance images Tuesday showing the three people wanted in connection with the robbery.
Police said one male was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, light-colored pants, black sneakers and a black face mask. A second male was wearing a black jacket, gray sweatpants, black sneakers and a red face mask. The third was last seen in a black jacket, black pants, black-and-white sneakers and a camouflage face mask.
No arrests have been made.
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