Shocking moment thief attacks woman, 68, on her way into NYC church before stealing her purse and car

Video footage shows the shocking moment a woman was punched in the face and robbed while entering a New York church.

The 68-year-old woman was walking up the steps of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Queens at 8:20 am, Sunday when she was attacked.

Surveillance video obtained by Fox5 New York shows the suspect running up behind her and then standing in between her and the doorway.

The subject then punches her, sending her flying down the stairs.

Police confirmed the woman is now in hospital in a critical condition.

While the woman was left on the ground, the robber began rummaging through her purse.

Before speeding off in his car, he searched the woman to see if she had any valuables in the pockets of her coat. 

He ran off with her purse, which had $300 dollars in cash, her cell phone, and her car keys.

The victim's identity has not yet been made public.

The unidentified perpetrator is described as a 5'8' male between 18 and 25 years old.

He was last seen wearing all black and a red hoodie underneath his black jacket, wearing a black mask.

The incident comes after multiple women came forward last month, revealing they had been punched in the face during broad daylight without provocation while walking the streets of Manhattan.

A total of 12 similar incidents had occurred over the past two weeks, with six suspects arrested, NYPD said.

On March 20, a 33-year-old woman was punched in the face while walking near Union Square.

The attacker, who has yet to be identified, slugged the woman in the face and fled north on Park Ave, per the police.

She sustained minor injuries but did not need immediate medical attention.

In photos released by the NYPD, the bearded man can be seen wearing a light blue Lilo & Stitch hoodie, a Yankees shirt and black pants. 

Earlier that day, a 23-year-old woman was attacked just blocks away on West 14th Street and Sixth Ave, DailyMail.com reported.

A different suspect, a man in dark pants, a light T-shirt and what looks like a light blue overcoat or unbuttoned dress shirt, was caught on surveillance camera jogging away after the attack.

The two separate attacks on March 20 added to a series of brazen unprovoked attacks targeting women in broad daylight in the Big Apple, prompting multiple influencers to share their experiences on TikTok.

NYPD Chief of Detectives said on Wednesday that a total of 12 similar incidents had occurred over the past two weeks, with six suspects arrested while others remain at large.

However, authorities refrained from categorizing the attacks as a trend and did not mention if the two incidents on March 20 are linked to other attacks, as NBC reported.

Scroll down to see the string of brazen attacks occurred in the past two weeks.

March 17

Reports of the first incident started appearing on social media platforms on March 17, according to the Washington Post.

Oliva Brand, 25, said she was ambushed while walking her dog near Kenmare Street and Mulberry Street in Nolita, Lower Manhattan.

'I literally just got punched by some man on the sidewalk. He goes 'Sorry' and then punches me in the head,' she said in a video posted on TikTok.

March 19

Sarah Suzuki Harvard, 30, said she was punched in the back of the head near Delancy Street on the Lower East Side at around 8pm.

But Harvard said she did not report the incident, according to ABC7.

March 20

A 33-year-old woman was punched in the face near Union Square, while a 23-year-old reported being attacked when she walked past a McDonald's on 6th Avenue in Chelsea.

Attackers remain not identified and at large, as both victims in those attacks had not been identified as of Friday.

March 23

At West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue in Midtown, a 25-year-old woman reported being slapped in the forehead by the attacker.

NYPD released photos of the suspect, who can be seen wearing a bright red puffer jacket as he wandered through a train station.

March 25

TikTok influencer Halley McGookin, 23, who goes online by 'Halley Kate,' said she was punched on the sidewalk near West 16th street and 7th Avenue.

The tearful video recounting the attack received millions of views, which prompted the police to eventually arrest Skiboy Stora, 40, who was being held on $10,000 bail ahead of his arraignment last week.

Blocks away from the alleged attack, Mikayla Toninato, 27, was punched as she exited a building on Fifth Avenue at around 2pm.

Mallikah Miah, 30, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault for the incident. He was later released.

A third victim, a 36-year-old woman, was punched in the back by a man who approached from behind at Rivington and Chrystie streets on the Lower East Side

March 26

Karina Dunford, 24, opened up about the assault she suffered on March 26 in front of 717 Avenue of the Americas.

The suspect, who has not been identified nor arrested, was last seen wearing a black jacket, black hooded sweatshirt, light jeans and white and orange sneakers.

The model said: 'My head continued to hurt until after the police arrived, but the emotional toll was honestly pretty terrifying, I was just shaking and not a lot jars me,' she said.

March 27

A 51-year-old woman suffered burns to the neck and face after a man pressed a lit cigarette on her on West 31st Street.

Lydia Weil, 40, was later arrested for the incident and charged with assault.

April 1

Weil also allegedly kicked a 22-year-old woman in the thigh when she walked into the Moynihan train station on April 1st.

The 40-year-old man pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court, as reported by PIX11.

Former Real Housewife of NY and current entrepreneur and online presence Bethenny Frankel wrote in the comments section of Mikayla Toninato's TikTok video that she too had been randomly assaulted in NYC in recent months.

'This is insane bc this happened to me a few months ago but I was embarrassed to say. I was on the UWS [Upper West Side]. I was taking video of a bakery,' she wrote in the comments section via Page Six, which she has since deleted.

The growing number of random punching attacks in New York City may be part of a disturbing trend called the knockout game - in which strangers punch random strangers in New York City with the intent of 'punching them unconscious.'

The violent game began in 1992 after Yngve Raustein, an MIT grad student, was attacked by a group of local teenagers in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Raustein was attacked and punched by the teenagers, who then stabbed him; he succumbed to his injuries.

The criminal teens told prosecutors at the time that their goal was to to 'floor a stranger' with just one punch.