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Surveillance Shows NYU Student Slapped, Grabbed and Thrown to Ground on Broadway

01:09 AM, 12/03/2025
Surveillance Shows NYU Student Slapped, Grabbed and Thrown to Ground on Broadway

What happened: Surveillance footage appears to show NYU student Amelia Lewis being followed, struck from behind, grabbed by the hair and thrown to the ground while walking on Broadway.

Response: A friend obtained the video and Lewis gave it to NYU security, which forwarded it to police; NYU says it is assisting detectives and offering the student support.

Latest: The NYPD says a person of interest is in custody. Lewis has warned other students to stay alert while walking in the city.

Surveillance footage appears to show New York University student Amelia Lewis being followed and violently attacked while walking to class on Broadway. A friend obtained the video from a nearby liquor store; Lewis shared the footage on social media and provided it to NYU security, which passed it to the police.

In videos she posted, Lewis described the encounter:

"When I turned around, I saw a man; he grabbed my hair, yanked me and threw me to the ground," Lewis said. The security footage then shows a group of young women helping her to her feet after she was knocked down.

Lewis described the suspect as a tall man with long brown hair and a long brown beard, wearing gray sweatpants, a black puffer jacket and a blue towel draped around his neck. She said she had heard that the same man may have attacked someone about a month earlier.

NYU spokesperson John Beckman said the university is "deeply disturbed" by the attack and is offering support to the student. He added that NYU's Department of Campus Safety has connected the student with detectives and is reviewing campus camera footage to determine whether additional video can assist investigators.

The NYPD confirmed that a person of interest is in custody. Lewis described the incident as "the scariest experience" of her life and urged classmates—particularly women—to stay alert when walking in the area.

"I should not be afraid to walk to my 9:30 a.m. class," Lewis said in her video. "This is unacceptable, and we need better public safety measures." Authorities are continuing their investigation.

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