Search Intensifies for Robber of Elderly

City officials are raising the stakes in an attempt to capture a suspect who robbed two elderly women in Queens last week.

The New York City Police Department is showing video footage that captures 101-year-old Rose Morat getting punched and then robbed by an unknown suspect to 25,000 uniformed officers, including transit and housing police, a police spokesman, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said. The officers will also view still photos of the suspect, he said.

The suspect is also wanted for the robbery of Solange Elize, 85, who met the same violent fate about 30 minutes after Mrs. Morat.

A City Council member who represents the Ozone Park district of Queens, Thomas White Jr., is waging a personal fight to find the suspect, offering a $1,000 reward for information that will lead to his capture.

"This just rubbed me so wrong because I have a mother," Mr. White said. "I don't want to give a thought of my mother getting punched."

Mr. White said he is offering the reward out of his personal savings.

Both victims have been poring though digital photos of known suspects, Mr. Browne said.

Mrs. Morat was robbed of her purse, $33, and keys, while Mrs. Elize lost $32 and two rings, one of which was her wedding band, Mr. Browne said.