EXCLUSIVE Singer reveals horror injuries after being randomly punched and attacked with phone by a stranger on NYC street
A woman has revealed the shocking injuries she suffered after being randomly attacked by an alleged assailant wielding a cellphone on a New York City street in broad daylight.
Paola Di Leo, a 29-year-old singer-songwriter, told Daily Mail she was walking home from the movies with her boyfriend around 8 pm Monday near the Regal Cinema in Manhattan when a deranged woman ran up and started screaming obscenities - before slamming her in the face with a phone.
'She had her hands on my face before I even realized what was happening,' Di Leo said. 'She hit me in the forehead with her phone, and I tried to cover myself, but it was too late.'
The unprovoked assault left Di Leo with a swollen forehead, bruises, and scratches.
Her boyfriend, who Di Leo said stepped in to defend her, was also bitten by the attacker as he tried to restrain her.
'He still has the teeth marks on his arm,' she said. 'She was like a complete animal.'
Despite the brutal attack - which played out in front of stunned bystanders and spilled into the street, where Di Leo claimed her attacker came at them three separate times - police at the scene did not immediately arrest the woman.
'I was bleeding, visibly injured, and this girl was screaming, totally unhinged,' Di Leo recalled. 'And the cops said they would only arrest her if she attacked us again.'
Officers eventually escorted the attacker and a friend she was with into the subway, according to Di Leo, who was left shaken and injured.
'I went to urgent care the next day. Thankfully it wasn't a concussion, but it could have been,' she said. 'It's scary that someone like that can just walk away. What if she had a knife?'
The alleged attacker, who Di Leo claimed appeared to be in her early 20s, was described as having long brown hair, wearing black clothes and eyeglasses, and possibly sporting a septum piercing.
'I don't know if she was on drugs or mentally ill,' said Di Leo. 'But someone that unstable shouldn't be allowed to just leave.'
Di Leo, an Italian singer-songwriter who is not a US citizen, said she was hesitant to press charges out of fear it could complicate her status - a dilemma she believes highlights flaws in the system.
'She said we were trying to steal her phone,' Di Leo claimed. 'It made no sense. She was totally delusional.'
And she says she's still in disbelief.
'I told my mom and a few friends, but I haven't really processed it. If my boyfriend hadn't been there… I don't know what would've happened.'
Halley Mcgookin, known as Halley Kate on TikTok, shared her traumatic experience with her 1.2 million TikTok followers just moments after being punched in the face
27-year-old Mikayla Toninato (pictured) said she was randomly attacked in Greenwich Village on Monday, with the man accused of punching her in the face, Mallik Miah, 30, arrested on Thursday
Daily Mail contacted NYPD for further comment. A spokesperson said there were no complaint reports on file.
Di Leo's experience is reminiscent of a disturbing trend that swept New York City last summer. At the time, multiple women reported being randomly punched in the face by strangers while walking down the street.
Social media influencer Halley Kate went viral after posting a video of herself in tears, saying she was struck in broad daylight while strolling through Manhattan.
Her clip prompted a wave of similar accounts from other women who claimed they too had been victims of unprovoked violence on the city's streets.
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