New York, NY - Grandmother That Fended Off The Nazis Fights Off A Mugger

New York, NY - Feisty, 86-year-old Elisabeth Rubin fended off the Nazis in Roma during World War II - and yesterday used her walker to fight off a mugger in Midtown. "I was frightened, but I had to fight for my life," said the slightly bruised, 5-foot-1 octogenarian. "I just kept looking around for somebody to help. No one came, so I had to do it myself."

The Romanian-born Rubin, who survived the Nazi occupation, was walking to catch the M20 bus for a doctor's appointment when she stopped to admire watches in a store window at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue. Suddenly, reflected in the window, she saw a middle-aged, mustached man walking up behind her, menacingly holding a wooden sign post.

"I made him room because I could see he was up to something. But he didn't go. He hit me on the right arm as I was holding the walker," she said. Then, in a violent tug of war, the muscular 5-foot-6 suspect tried to wrest away her handbag, which she had strapped to the walker. "Then he grabbed my bag with both of his hands. When he saw I was strong, he kicked the walker away and it fell down. When he did that, I threw away my umbrella and I grabbed my purse."
Then the man bashed her over the head. But she still wasn't ready to let the burly thug get away with her purse - "I only had $5 in my pocket. I don't normally fight for $5 but I still need it when I come from the doctor's office," she said.
The mugger then swiped the bag, and he got even angrier. "Then I grabbed my walker and I tried to get away."
Knowing she couldn't outrun him, Rubin instead stopped to stare him down. "I turned back and looked at him. He only spoke Spanish. He called me puta, and finally I said, 'Puta your mother!' and he started to run."
She didn't want to miss her doctor's appointment, so "calling police was not on my mind."

The senior citizen, who once owned Rubin's Restaurant on 34th Street, was not seriously hurt, even though she has been in fragile health since breaking her hip two years ago.
After Rubin returned home, she called her longtime friend Barbara Datesh, who called 911.