Overview

• The encounter happened around 11 a.m. Wednesday outside a Gramercy Park senior center off East 23rd Street, according to the couple and local reports.
• A man approached asking for directions to a Walmart as a woman in a parked SUV displayed jewelry, then grabbed the wife’s hand and tried to take her pieces.
• The woman then targeted Lawrence Schwartz’s $48,000 Rolex and attempted to swap it with a counterfeit watch during the struggle, the couple said.
• Schwartz used boxing and self-defense moves to subdue the woman briefly, and the suspects left without the watch after a scuffle that left the couple with bruises and scratches.
• The victims filed a police report and say the watch was damaged and will need repairs they expect to pay for themselves.