91-Year-Old Park Slope Woman Choked, Mugged in Own Home

Police are hunting for this man, believed to have robbed an elderly Park Slope woman and her neighbor Wednesday afternoon. Photos courtesy of the NYPD

UPDATE, Friday afternoon: A $3,500 reward is being offered for information leading to the man's arrest. Click here for all further updates on this case.

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Park Slope resident Elizabeth Gioino, 91, was attacked and robbed as she entered her apartment building on 9th Street around 1 p.m. Wednesday, according to police and local leaders.

NYPD detectives are now hunting for the man they believe targeted the elderly woman.

Gioino was entering her longtime residence at 555 9th Street — one in a string of elegant brownstones located less than a block from Prospect Park — after visiting the library at Grand Army Plaza, according to the Daily News.

Police said the man followed Gioino into her building, displayed a gun, choked her and took her ID and money — about $170, the News reported.

“I said, ‘Please leave me alone! I’m a sick woman! I’m old enough! Leave me alone!’” Gioino told CBS New York.

The man then turned his gun on a 50-year-old man who tried to help — identified as a neighbor in reports — before fleeing with a total of about $370, police said.

Detectives have described their main suspect as a black man between 40 and 50 years old, standing at about 5-feet-11-inches and weighing 250 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black jacket, a black wool cap, black gloves, light-colored pants, dark shoes and a dark sweater.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams announced Friday that his office would be putting up a reward for information leading to the suspect's arrest. (Adams planned to disclose the sum of the reward at a Friday-afternoon press conference.)

According to Adams' office, local police believe the same man may be responsible for another home invasion in Park Slope last month. In that attack, a 71-year-old woman was reportedly pistol-whipped and robbed of hundreds of dollars.

Anyone with info on the suspect or the crime can visit the Crime Stoppers website or call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS. Spanish speakers can call 1-888-57-PISTA.