An 87-year-old grandfather is recovering from a brutal beating after he was robbed right in front of his apartment building in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood.
It happened around 10 a.m. Monday, when Margaro Senquiz was going about his daily routine — a short walk to grab a coffee from the McDonald’s on Clark.
He had just walked back to his senior living apartment on Fulton Road and was about to put his key in the building’s gate when he was attacked from behind.
“He hit me, pushed me and hit me,” Senquiz, a grandfather of 22, said on Tuesday afternoon. Then, the attacker reached into Senquiz’s pocket and grabbed the $75 he had in there. The robber ran off when a witness starting yelling nearby.
Senquiz has just returned home from the hospital, thankful he didn’t suffer any broken bones or fractures. His face is covered in dark bruises from the beating.
Senquiz’s son, Margaro Senquiz, Jr., said they believe he was watched and followed because the robber knew exactly where to look for money.
“What I don’t understand is how it happened because there’s no answer, there’s no answer at all,” Senquiz, Jr. said. “A sick individual that needs to be locked up.”
Cleveland city councilwoman Jasmin Santana there has been a spike in crime in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood and she will be requesting increased police patrols. But, she said, she knows that’s not enough.
“I need people to report. Report any suspicious acts, anything. I know sometimes the residents state, ‘I called the cops, they don’t come out.’ Doesn’t matter. report it,” Santana said, adding that those reports will help give her hard evidence when demanding more patrols.
Santana said she knows Senquiz well, calling him one of the sweetest souls she’s ever met. She said he is a fixture seen walking around the neighborhood often.
“I was distraught, I couldn’t believe that someone would have the heart to do this,” Santana said.
Senquiz’s family and police are hoping the attacker is caught on surveillance cameras along Fulton. The senior living apartment’s building manager told police the attack was not captured on their cameras.
As for the 87-year-old Senquiz, he told reporter Homa Bash that he wanted to see his attacker first in the boxing ring — and then behind bars.
