A 17-year-old vacationer from Nashville was randomly slugged close to Central Park Wednesday — along with his mother and father saying they have been each “shocked” by the brazen assault and grateful for the New Yorkers who got here to their support.
The Chittom household was strolling to the park on their final day within the Massive Apple after they mentioned a person who seemed to be homeless got here out of nowhere and punched their son, Caleb, within the face earlier than operating off with out a phrase.
Dad Thom Chittom instructed The Publish he was in “disbelief that that might occur … That any person would simply do one thing like that.”
However with the household nonetheless in shock, Chittom and his spouse mentioned the actual New York instantly confirmed its true colours.
“I appeared up from the place my son lay and the primary individual I laid eyes on was already on the cellphone calling 911, giving an in depth description of the place we have been,” Lynn-nore Chittom, the teenager’s mother, instructed The Publish.
“Folks have been serving to in each approach. Everybody who got here up requested if they may assist.”
The Chittoms, who've made the trek from Tennessee to New York Metropolis prior to now, mentioned they have been heading to Central Park on Wednesday afternoon so Caleb may do some sketching.
The teenager was close to the nook of West 66th Road at round 12:30 p.m. when a brute got here out of nowhere and “simply decked him,” his dad mentioned.
“Truthfully, sort of disbelief,” Thom Chittom, a software program tester again dwelling, mentioned of the quick aftermath. “Shock. You recognize, he sort of had fallen within the fringe of the road.
“I feel there was a bit of little bit of panic that he would possibly get hit by a automobile or one thing that doesn’t understand he was there,” the dad added. “All of these issues sort of undergo your thoughts.”
Caleb was later taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, the place he was being handled for bruises and a bloody nostril, his dad mentioned.
The household deliberate to return dwelling Thursday, however might now should delay their journey, Thom added.
However regardless of the painful finish to their newest huge metropolis tour, the Chittoms have been overwhelmed with the outpouring from on a regular basis New Yorkers.
“I’m impressed as a result of except for the one seemingly mentally ailing one who punched my child, each different individual we’ve encountered — everybody — has been simply amazingly good,” mentioned Lynn-nore, a center faculty theater instructor again dwelling.
“I’m sorry that this occurred,” she added. “[But] if something it makes me love the town extra as a result of the town shouldn't be outlined by the one homeless man who punched my child. It’s all the opposite individuals who helped.”
The couple was “shocked” by the assistance they acquired from good Samaritans, Thom added.
“Actually inside moments some individual introduced over some stuff for his nostril, and one other individual was already on the cellphone calling 911. One other individual adopted the man to get photographs for the police,” he mentioned.
“So, simply the overall outpouring from everyone round of simply kindness, sympathy and assist — that’s actually extra attribute of the town.”
The couple mentioned they reported the assault to cops. An NYPD spokesperson didn’t instantly have any particulars on the incident.
It’s simply the most recent assault on an out-of-towner.
On Sunday, a vacationer from Maryland was smashed within the head with a bottle, slashed and robbed in Occasions Sq. as he walked again to his resort round 4:30 a.m.
Final month, a vacationer from Denmark was shot on the Higher West Aspect when he refused to surrender his pockets and cellphone to an armed robber.
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