Muggers mistake undercover cop car for a cab

BRONX (WABC) -- Two suspects who beat and robbed a 70-year-old woman were arrested after they mistook an undercover police car for a livery cab and tried to hail it to flee the scene, authorities said Wednesday.

The woman, whose name was not released, was visiting relatives in the Bronx Tuesday afternoon when two men got on an elevator with her, police said.

When she got out, the attackers pushed her down, beat her and kicked her, leaving her groceries strewn all over the floor. A resident heard her screams and called 911, and the suspects fled with her wallet.

The two men ran about a block, then noticed a light blue car and thought it was a livery cab, so they stopped, breathless on the street, and tried to hail it, police said. Instead, plainclothes officers responding to the scene got out of the car and asked for identification. One of the suspects accidentally pulled out the woman's wallet and ID and then said he had just found it on the street, according to Joanne Jaffe, chief of the NYPD's Housing Bureau.

The two suspects, both 21, were arrested as the woman was brought out on a stretcher. The ambulance stopped near the car, and the woman identified the suspects, Jaffe said.

The woman was admitted to North Central Bronx Hospital with a dislocated shoulder, bruised ribs and a head injury. She was in intensive care, Jaffe said.

Michael Jordan and Antoine Mitchell were arrested on charges of assault and robbery. There was no telephone listing for Mitchell, and a number for Jordan went unanswered Wednesday. It wasn't immediately clear if the men had lawyers.

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