The woman randomly struck with a rock in a broad daylight Chelsea attack last week said she feels “bad” for her attacker – who likely suffers from “mental health issues.”
The 67-year-old victim – an artist and dancer who was reached by phone and did not want to be identified – said she was “scared” after the July 6 attack at Seventh Avenue and West 14th Street, which left her with minor injuries.
She said she doesn’t think the unhinged suspect was specifically out to get her.
“I’m not taking it personally,” she told The Post. “He’s a person out there who needs help and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“He didn’t appear to me to be super crazy or anything,” the woman added. “Maybe he was mentally unstable and not on his meds or something.”
The disheveled suspect approached the woman at the corner around 9 a.m. and motioned as if he was about to hit her, prompting her to duck – but despite her quick reflexes, she couldn’t escape his blow completely, the woman said.
“Then I felt this clunk on the back of my head,” the victim told The Post. “After he got me in the head, he mumbled something incoherent.”
“I was shocked and I was a little dizzy,” she said.
Still, she said she was glad that her instincts kicked in.
“If I hadn’t ducked, he would have hit me in the face,” she said. “He caught me when I ducked.”
The victim said she waved down nearby cops – but they did nothing to catch her attacker, who was still in sight.
“I flagged the police and I pointed him out to the police and he wasn’t even halfway down the block and they didn’t go after him,” she said. “The detective said they’re ‘new on the job.’”
“It doesn’t make sense to me,” she added. “Don’t police get training? Aren’t they trained? I don’t know why they didn’t nab him right then and there.”
Police officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post about the officers’ alleged disinterest.
She went to a local hospital to get checked out – but said she’s lucky she “wasn’t hurt very badly.”
The injured woman blames the assailant’s mental state for the unprovoked attack.
“Maybe he has some anger issues but he definitely has mental health issues,” she added.
“I feel bad for people like that who are on the street with problems and don’t get help. We don’t have helpers in this city for people with mental health issues because police aren’t really the solution.”
The NYPD on Tuesday released surveillance footage of the suspect — described as having a medium build and standing about 6 feet 2 — in hopes of identifying him.
He was last seen wearing a loose V-neck green shirt, dark baggy pants and sporting a bushy beard and long dark hair.
Meanwhile, the victim said she is “recovering.”
“I’m strong and I have a hard head,” she said. “I’m an artist and a dancer so I have pretty good reflexes.”