Career criminal sentenced for trying to rob 91-year-old cancer patient in violent NYC attack that left victim bedridden 

A career criminal will spend the next 15 years behind bars for attempting to rob a 91-year-old cancer patient in a violent Upper East Side attack that left the bedridden victim believing “death would be better” than living with his agonizing injuries.

Christian Torres, 45, was sentenced Wednesday for viciously shoving Hyman Silverglad to the ground and pummeling the nonagenarian after trying to snatch his wallet in the would-be mugging on Feb. 1, 2024, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced.

The heinous attack left the shaken senior – who was battling cancer and kidney failure at the time – with six bone fractures, broken ribs, a liver hematoma and another fracture at the base of his spine. 

“The pain immediately after the assault was so agonizing that I thought death would be better than the agony I was going through,” Silverglad, now 92, told the court in a victim impact statement.

“Since my assault, I have been unable to walk any appreciable distance, I am bedridden. The only time I leave my apartment is for acts of medical necessity. I am frightened to leave my apartment without another person accompanying me, because I fear being attacked once more.”

Silverglad was walking home with his groceries on East 86th Street and First Avenue at about 10:25 p.m. when Torres reached towards his pocket and tried to grab his wallet before launching the assault, prosecutors said.

The assailant, who cops say has multiple prior arrests and convictions, ran off empty-handed as the frightened victim shouted for help and tried to fight back, according to cops. 

The violent brute was busted more than a week later.

“I implore the court when it metes out punishment, to take into consideration that I have been sentenced to ‘imprisonment,’” the scorned elder said in his letter. 

“Respectfully, the barbarity of the attack should be noted by the court. I have been informed that my assailant had just finished a very long prison sentence, but that punishment did not stop him from his recidivist, vicious assault on myself. It is my hope that the court will be fair and just.”

Torres was previously locked up in state prison from January 2022 to April 2023 for a Bronx robbery conviction, state corrections records show. His earliest prison sentence was in 1998 on an arson and robbery conviction in the Bronx.

He was on post-supervision release when he targeted Silverglad. 

In June, a jury convicted the serial robber of first-degree assault, first-degree attempted robbery, and second-degree assault.

“A 91-year-old man was walking home with his groceries on the Upper East Side when Christian Torres attack and attempted to rob him without provocation,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.

“I hope today’s sentencing gives the victim a sense of closure as he continues to heal from this assault. My office will continue to create accountability for those who threaten the safety of older New Yorkers.”