A Manhattan thug gave new meaning to “Bible belt” when he beat up an elderly man and took off with his Holy Scriptures.
The suspect, armed with a pair of scissors, followed Ricardo Velez, 92, out of the rain and into his West 18th Street home Monday night at around 11 p.m., and attacked him.
“I believed he was getting ready to stab me,” said Velez, who managed to disarm the fiend. “I poked him in the stomach with my umbrella and he dropped the scissors. I dropped my bag when he pushed me.”
Velez said his attacker left him on the floor, writhing in pain, then took off with his leather-bound Bible, a bag and a pair of bifocals.
“I’ve had that Bible at least 20 years. I don’t care about the bag. It meant so much to me. I can’t replace it. I paid $25 for it 25 years ago. I won’t be able to find another like it.”
Velez cried out for help, and a neighbor came to his aid and called 911. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital.
“I found him on his knees,” said neighbor Rademes Hernandez, 82, who has known Velez for 50 years. “I asked him, ‘What happened?’ He said, ‘Somebody knocked me down.’ I said, ‘Did you see who did it?’ He said, ‘No.’ ”
Hernandez said he became alarmed when his dog started barking.
“My dog was going crazy,” Hernandez said. “She was standing in front of the door barking. The second I opened the door, she ran right down the stairs, and I followed her.”
Hernandez said that after the French poodle led him to Velez, he tried to help his friend up, but Velez was in too much pain.
“I feel sorry for him,” Hernandez said. ”He is a nice guy.”
Police said the suspect wore a baseball cap, red sneakers, a black T-shirt and jeans, and is in his late 30s.
He is seen on surveillance walking with a limp near the scene of the assault.
“There are too many bad people in the streets,” Hernandez said. “They are like cockroaches. They sleep in the day and come out at night.”
Crime Stoppers is offering a $22,000 reward for information that helps them nab the suspect. Anyone with information should call (800) 577-TIPS.
Velez, in his hospital room, said the attack was shameful.
“He didn’t say anything,” Velez recalled. “I said to myself, ‘How can he be such a coward? How can he take advantage of old people?’ ”
Velez said he’s looking on the bright side.
“Maybe he can learn something from my Bible,” he said.
Additional reporting by Rebecca Harshbarger