A grand jury has indicted a Brooklyn man who allegedly beat up a woman and stole her purse in front of her young son on a Woodhaven street last year, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Derrick Chirse, 58, was arraigned on second-degree robbery, second-degree assault, fifth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child. Chirse is currently being held on $100,000 bail and is due to return to court on June 13.
If convicted, Chirse faces life in prison.
“The defendant in this case is alleged to have cornered a woman and reigned punches on her head and chest in order to steal her purse. After beating and robbing the defenseless woman – whose toddler son witnessed the vicious assault – the defendant fled the location,” said Chief Assistant District Attorney John A. Ryan. “He was apprehended the following day after the release of video surveillance. The victim suffered extensive bruising and pain as result of the defendant’s alleged actions. As such he now faces the possibility of being locked away from society for the rest of his life.”
According to charges, at 2 p.m. on Oct. 1, 2018, Chirse approached a 35-year-old woman who was walking with her four-year-old son on 84th Street near Atlantic Avenue. Chirse then allegedly told the woman to hand over her purse, and when she refused he allegedly responded by repeatedly punching the mother multiple times in her head and chest.
Chirse then allegedly reached over the victim and took her purse before fleeing the scene. The victim sustained injuries to her face and other extremities and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Her son was not injured during the attack.
Just one day after the incident, Chirse was arrested at a Brooklyn homeless shelter after his picture and video of the assault surfaced on social media.
