A high school student was hit in the head with a brick by a random stranger in broad daylight on the streets of New York City.
Which, while tragic and terrifying, isn’t in the least surprisingly, because…well, it’s New York City.
Police are looking for a black male caught on surveillance video walking around Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood with a brick around the time of the attack, when he allegedly walked up to 18-year-old Ethan Maddi, who was sitting on a curb eating lunch, and whacked him in the head with a brick.
According to reports, the assailant initially ran from the scene before doubling back and stealing Maddi’s backpack.
Maddi, on the other hand, collapsed at the scene and was ultimately left with a concussion, a broken left orbital, a broken sinus, and nasty lacerations on his lip and check.
It kind of all happened and I woke up in the hospital. … I was alone. This was the one day I went to lunch alone. It’s normally a peaceful area, just something you wouldn’t expect around there,” Maddi told CBS New York.
New York City has been the scene of many violent attacks in recent months and years, with a shocking number occurring in plain sight during the daytime, often against innocent bystanders simply going about their lives. Rapes, robberies, and assaults have all risen in the Big Apple, as the city's overall crime rate jumped 31% in July compared with last year.