87-year-old New Yorker fends off suspects trying to steal $48,000 Rolex watch

An 87-year-old New Yorker said he successfully fought off two suspects who tried to steal his Rolex watch and rob his wife on the street. 

Lawrence Schwartz said he and his wife, Joanna Cuccia, were walking into a senior center off East 23rd Street in Manhattan at around 11 a.m. Wednesday when one of the suspects stopped and asked them for directions. 

“He said ‘I want to go to a Walmart.’ I said there are no Walmarts in Manhattan,” Cuccia said. 

Cuccia said the man asked her to speak with his wife, who was sitting nearby in a Jeep, and the wife started showing Cuccia jewelry before attempting to snatch Cuccia’s own jewelry.

“She wouldn’t let go. She scratched me,” Cuccia said. 

Boxing and self-defense training kicked in

Schwartz said he immediately went to his wife’s rescue. But the woman in the Jeep tried to take his $48,000 watch off his wrist and switch it with a counterfeit one, he said. 

“It’s a Rolex President. It’s gold and you can see it a block away,” he said. “She got her hand under here and that’s where the clasp was.” 

As the struggle ensued, Schwartz said his boxing and self-defense training kicked in. He says he grabbed the woman’s hand and twisted her arm.

“She was screaming her brains out,” he said. “Bing, bang, boom … It happened in milliseconds.”

He said it was the first time someone ever tried to rob him, but not his first scuffle. 

“Have I had different run-ins with people, whether it be drunks or wise guys? Yeah,” he said.

Schwartz said his first Rolex was stolen and he wasn’t going to give this one up without a fight.

“I mean, I’m stronger than most people,” he said. 

Suspects backed off

Schwartz and Cuccia suffered scratches and bruises on their hands during the encounter, but he held onto the watch and police said the two suspects fled the scene. 

“They never expected two gray heads like us to put up such a [fight],” Cuccia said.

“We look old enough to take advantage of, I guess,” Schwartz said.

The couple said they’ll have to pay out of pocket to have the watch repaired.

“I would like the police to incarcerate them,” Schwartz said, as the couple hopes for justice.