Police Search for Five Suspects After Assault & Robbery
By Katie McFadden
A 64-year-old woman was the victim of a horrific assault and robbery on Beach 96th Street last week.
Wanting to be closer to the beach, Debbie Villanueva just moved to Rockaway Beach in November after a lifetime in Brooklyn. On Friday night, May 10, at around 11:30 p.m., she was unloading items from her rental car in front of her building at 214 Beach 96th Street when a group of men suddenly appeared from the shadows and surrounded her. Villanueva, who says she was on the phone with her sister, knew what was coming next wouldn’t be good, and warned her sister to call 911. The whole incident that followed was caught on security cameras outside of the building.
One of the men punched Villanueva, who fell backwards, hitting her head on the sidewalk. While she was blacked out, the men rifled through her pockets and belongings, stealing her wallet and car keys.
Villanueva came to after the robbery as the five suspects sped away in her rental vehicle. She suffered a laceration to the left side of her head and was transported to a local hospital in stable condition. With staples in her head and left in a lot of pain, Villanueva is back home and recovering from the scary incident.
Police have since recovered Villanueva’ rental vehicle in Brownsville, Brooklyn, but they are still searching for the five men involved.
If anyone has any information regarding this incident, please contact the 100th Precinct Detective Squad at 718-318-4223 or the Crime Stoppers tip line at 800-577-TIPS.
