Just days after two heroes ran to save her life, and despite suffering stab wounds in the back, 61-year old Eun Hee Chang is at work talking about her traumatic experience today.
She told ABC7’s Cefaan Kim that she she needs to work to survive, but that she is OK. She compared the stabbing to being punched.
Kim said when the muggers went after her purse, she ran to the pizzeria because she knew the father and son owners. That’s when the two ran out to confront the attackers.
The father sustained 9 stab wounds, the son one. The father is still hospitalized, recovering from his injuries.
“He sees a woman being attacked. He hears screaming. He starts chasing him, yells my name, said the son, Louie Suljovic, about his father Cazmin to CBS New York. “”I would still do it tomorrow. “Enough is enough. People have to start taking the city back. We do. Because there’s too many people out there – there’s animals out there, and there’s a lot good people that supersede that. We can take this back. We can make this city great again,” he said.
Police credit the father-son duo’s action with helping them make the arrest.
On Friday, April 1, Rep Grace Meng (D-NY) will hold a special ceremony to honor both men for their heroism. Louie will be presented with an official congressional proclamation and a certificate of special congressional recognition.
Also attending will be other elected officials including the Queens Borough President, officers from the 110th Police Precinct, the CEO of Elmhurst Hospital and local community members, among others.
30-year-old Robert Whack, of Brooklyn, and 18-year-old Supreme Gooding are facing robbery, assault, gang assault, weapons and attempted murder charges.
NBC4 reports that Whack told police “The lady starts screaming. Honestly, I didn’t know what to do so I just stabbed him.”
Surveillance video shows three men following Chang and then pushing her into the ground. They are still looking for a third suspect.
“It’s been difficult. We can’t isolate these incidents,” said Hailey Kim of the Minkwon Center in New York to ABC7. “We have to see the bigger pattern that AAPI violence, like violence against our community, has gone up 365% in the last two years.”
Chang says she filled with fear, but also overwhelmed with gratitude for Louie’s Pizzeria.
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