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Cops: Beloved Actor Rick Moranis Randomly Attacked On Upper West Side
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 2, 2020
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 2, 2020
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Police are looking for a person who randomly attacked actor Rick Moranis on the Upper West Side this week.
"He is fine but grateful for everyone’s thoughts and well wishes," his rep told The Hollywood Reporter.
An NYPD spokesperson says the incident happened around 7:30 a.m. on Thursday as the actor was walking southbound on Central Park West near West 70th Street. The suspect, who was wearing a black “I Love New York” hooded sweatshirt, struck him in the head with a closed fist, knocking him to the ground, then fled northbound on foot. You can see video of the assault below.
Moranis, who was first identified by police to CBS, suffered from pain to the head, back, and right hip, and traveled by private means to an area hospital for evaluation.
The attack occurred just four blocks from 550 Central Park West, the apartment building featured in the original Ghostbusters movie.
Moranis, the star of films including Ghostbusters, Honey I Shrunk The Kids, Little Shop of Horrors, Spaceballs, and more, took a long hiatus from acting starting in the late '90s in order to focus on raising his kids after his wife, Ann Belsky, died from breast cancer. He very recently came out of this semi-retirement and signed on for a remake of Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and also began appearing in an ad for Mint Mobile with actor Ryan Reynolds.
While President Donald Trump and police unions say the city is descending into violence, both felony and misdemeanor assaults are down citywide in 2020 compared to a year ago according to the latest NYPD stats. (The year-to-date murder rate has increased by almost 40% this year compared to the same period in 2019; the murder rate is still down 50% compared to 2001, and assaults are down over 10% since that year.)
Police ask that anyone with information in regard to the Moranis assault incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website, or on Twitter.
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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