[ad_1]
A woman has been charged with using a credit card belonging to the “hero” New York City health worker who was brutally beaten with a hammer and robbed on a Queens subway station staircase, prosecutors said.
Denise Alston, 57, of St. Albans, was busted on Friday night – a day after the disturbing caught-on-video attack – in front of a commercial strip on 21st Street, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.
Alston made a $19 purchase with a blue credit card bearing the name of the victim, Nina Rothschild, 57, prosecutors said.
Police also recovered Rothschild’s Chase Freedom Visa card, two department store cards, and the victim’s New York City identification card in Alston’s wallet, the DA’s office said.
Upon arrest, she was found in possession of a crack pipe, cops said.
She was charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, identity theft in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, prosecutors said.
If convicted, she could spend up to four years behind bars.
Alston’s connection to the alleged attacker, 57-year-old William Blount – and how she allegedly obtained the victim’s belongings from him – was unclear Tuesday morning.
Blount, whose last known address is in Lower Manhattan, was arraigned Monday on a six-count complaint, charging him with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, prosecutors said.
He faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted, and was ordered to return to court on Thursday, the DA’s office said.
Rothschild was headed home from her job as a research scientist with the New York City Health Department when she was attacked at the Queens Plaza E, M and R station around 11:20 p.m. Thursday.
Footage shows Blount allegedly creeping up behind Rothschild on the stairs and kicking her in what seemed like an attempt to make her fall. He then hit the scientist several times in the head and ran off with her blue tote bag, the video shows.
Rothschild was taken to Weill Cornell Medical in critical condition. She suffered a fractured skull, as well as an intracranial hemorrhage and bruising and swelling to her head, prosecutors said.
The victim’s brother, Gerson Rothschild, told The Post Sunday night that his sister is “indeed getting stronger by the day.”
“Nina would be hopeful that the individual would get the reatment that he needs during his time of incarceration,” he told The Post in an email.
Blount, whose last known address is in Astoria, has a half-dozen prior arrests — including on charges of robbery and criminal possession of a controlled substance, sources said.
“This was a brutal, gratuitous attack,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said in a statement.
“As alleged, the defendant kicked the victim down a stairwell during a robbery and struck her repeatedly with a hammer and with such force that he fractured the woman’s skull and caused other serious injuries. The subways are too integral to the lifeblood of our City for riders to be terrorized when using them. The violence has to stop.”
[ad_2]