An elderly man shrugged off his wild struggle with two suspects who allegedly tried to steal his Rolex watch worth nearly $48,000 on the streets of Manhattan.
Elderly man fights off would-be thieving couple
Larry Schwartz said that on August 3 he was leaving a senior center in Gramercy Park with a friend when a stranger came up to him claiming to be from Dubai. Schwartz commented to WNBC-TV that he had his pricey Rolex on at the time.
“He’s calling me and he’s saying, ‘I’m from Dubai,’” remembered companion Joanna Cuccia. “I turned around, and I said, ‘Well, welcome to New York.’”
The man asked her for directions to Walmart, only for Cuccia to reply, “I said, ‘There are no Walmarts in Manhattan.’ He said, ‘Tell that to my wife.’”
The pair then walked toward a car parked nearby. When Schwartz got close to the vehicle, a woman inside slipped what looked like a diamond-studded gold watch onto his wrist.
“It’s a knockoff for somebody stupid or somebody doesn’t know Rolex,” Schwartz said. “Right away, I know there’s a problem.”
Schwartz said the woman attempted to unfasten his Rolex, but she miscalculated his response.
He seized her arm and violently slammed her against the car door several times.
“If I don’t let go of her, he’s going to pull away, and he’s going to drag me down,” the elderly victim said about the attempted theft. “You know, I’m not smart, but I’m not dumb. So it’s not going to happen.”
“I twisted her pretty good, including her body, which I did. I used this battering ram against the inside of the cab. So I worked her over pretty good,” Schwartz recalled. “She’s got to have one hell of a sore arm.”
Schwartz noted his background in boxing gave him an edge. “I also boxed amateur. I have 44 amateur fights, and so I’m not the average person, I know that.”
He credits his strict workout routine for keeping him strong. “They picked on the wrong person,” he said.
“People my age don’t work out every day, and they haven’t been working out since they were 14.”
Surveillance video showed the would-be thieves fleeing after failing to get the watch.
Police are now searching for the suspects, described as a woman in her 30s and a man in his 40s.
While Schwartz walked away unscathed, others across New York were not as fortunate.
Aging couple murdered by career criminal
A separate case in Queens ended in tragedy when Frank and Maureen Olton were brutally murdered inside their own home.
The suspect, identified as 42-year-old Jamel McGriff, allegedly tricked the couple into letting him inside before carrying out a horrific attack.
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Video surveillance from a neighbor captured Frank, 76, letting McGriff into his backyard around 10:15 a.m. Monday.
Minutes later, Maureen, 77, came to the backdoor. As Frank attempted to shut it, McGriff forced his way inside.
A man’s voice, thought to be Frank’s, was heard shouting, “get the f*** out of here.”
According to police, McGriff tied the couple up and stabbed them. After the assault, he set the home on fire.
Frank was found in the basement bound to a pole with wires and bungee cords, suffering from multiple stab wounds. His wife’s badly burned body was discovered on the first floor.
Witnesses told investigators McGriff left the home around 3:10 p.m., hours before flames consumed it.
Video reportedly showed McGriff approaching Frank, entering the home, and leaving five hours later carrying bags.
Police said McGriff fled the area and used the victims’ credit cards for a shopping spree in Midtown. Sources revealed he bought items at Macy’s and a Regal Cinema theater.
“He was spotted in Midtown Manhattan by eagle-eyed cops who didn’t hesitate before jumping into action,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch wrote on X.
“Thank you to the best detectives and the best cops in the world for their work tracking and apprehending this violent criminal.”
Authorities also linked McGriff to pawning two phones in the Bronx. His parole officer identified him from surveillance footage outside the Olton home.
McGriff was reportedly caught on video footage at several homes before he entered the Oltons’ residence.
Tisch said the crime scene revealed no prior connection between McGriff and the victims.
His criminal history stretches back years, including a 2006 conviction for first-degree robbery for which he served 16 years before his release in 2023.
He is also suspected in two robberies earlier this summer, one at a Verizon store where he was beaten by an employee.
On Thursday, McGriff was charged with multiple counts of first degree murder, two counts of robbery, three charges of burglary, grand larceny, kidnap abduction resulting in death, kidnapping, arson, criminal possession of a weapon, identity theft and criminal possession of stolen property.
He was held without bail after being arraigned in court. He faces multiple life sentences if convicted.
Elderly man beat to death by ruthless thug
Meanwhile, Chicago faced its own horrific violence against a senior citizen. A 32-year-old repeat offender allegedly beat a 76-year-old man to death at a bus stop on Monday night, before hijacking an SUV with two children inside.
Surveillance video shows the elderly victim striking the suspect, who retaliated with a barrage of punches.
The attacker then shoved the victim to the ground and continued the brutal beating.
Responding officers found the elderly man with head trauma around 9:15 p.m. He later died at the hospital.
According to WLS-TV, the suspect then carjacked a green Kia Telluride from a McDonald’s parking lot. Inside were a grandmother’s two grandchildren, ages 3 and 14.
The suspect allegedly threatened to shoot them and ordered them out of the vehicle before fleeing.
The grandmother tracked the SUV using an iPad left inside. The pursuit ended when the suspect crashed in Schererville, Indiana, about 35 minutes away, where he was arrested.
Authorities noted the suspect has a lengthy record dating back nearly two decades. Past charges include a 2019 robbery in Glenwood, a 2015 robbery in Matteson, and resisting arrest in 2010.
