NY Post
February 1, 2014
An unhinged Brooklyn man accused of punching seven women — including a 78-year-old — in brutal “knockout” attacks last year told cops he attacked six of them in “self-defense,” and hit another woman because she almost made him spill his Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, court papers revealed Wednesday.
Barry Baldwin, 35, hit the women in seven separate attacks in Canarsie and Midwood between Nov. 7 and Dec. 27, court papers state.
His Jan. 3 arrest came in the midst of a slew of possible “knockout game” attacks — in which innocent people are sucker-punched by thrill-seeking punks — including multiple attacks against Orthodox Jewish and Hasidic people in Brooklyn and a rash of attacks on Long Island.
He was arraigned in a brief Brooklyn Supreme Court appearance Wednesday.
“I hit a lady on the head in self-defense,” Baldwin wrote in a statement to police when asked about the Nov. 7 attack, according to court papers.
The women he attacked were between the ages of 20 and 78, cops have said.
Baldwin made similar written statements about self-defense when investigators asked about his attacks on Dec. 7, Dec. 24, and Dec. 26.
“I was passing by a lady using a phone and I hit her head in self-defense because of the way she looked,” Baldwin wrote of the Dec. 27 attack.
Baldwin attacked a 33-year-old mom walking with her 7-year-old daughter on Elm Street near East 12th Street on Dec. 21 in Midwood, cops said.
The surprised mom fell onto the child before crashing to the ground, cops said – and suffered cuts and bruises to her head, hands and knees, according to Baldwin’s criminal complaint.