57-Year-Old NYC Man Doused With Scalding Liquid In An Unprovoked Attack

A man, believed to be homeless, recently doused a 57-year old man with a scalding liquid in a random attack in New York City. The victim suffered second-degree burns.

The incident took place last Monday around 10 p.m. near the southwest corner of West 47th Street and Sixth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

Fifty-seven-year-old victim Elmar Garscha, a jeweler, was walking along the sidewalk when the shirtless assailant ran up to him, holding a small container from behind.

Garscha said that he felt that the man was following him, so he stopped to rest his bad hip.

"I realized there was a guy following me, and he was maybe 10 feet behind me and rushing towards me," Garscha was quoted as saying by WABC . "Maybe five seconds later, the guy hit me with the water."

The assailant threw the scalding hot liquid on Garscha in the unprovoked attack and fled the scene on foot in an unknown direction.

A disturbing video of the incident was released early Monday. In the clip shared by the NYPD crime-stopper, Garscha can be seen falling on the ground after the attack. No words were exchanged between the two before the episode.

According to Garscha, the assailant laughed while running away after the attack.

The next day, Garscha himself went to the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center to seek treatment. He sustained second-degree burns on his entire back and shoulder. "The injuries are extensive, and it doesn't look that big of a cup," he said.

"The physical pain I can deal with, it's the fact that you know someone's out there to get you. Somebody wants to hurt you on purpose. The guy laughed in my face and ran away. He smiled at me, like, 'Gotcha.' That's what really got to me," Garscha told WABC.

Police are still looking for the suspect. The suspect is described as an adult male with a light complexion. He is said to be approximately 5 feet 7 and 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, New York Post reported.

Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).