Calloused attacker felled by brutal punch that left 81-year-old woman unconscious in New York: cops

A ruthless attacker was arrested Thursday for knocking an 81-year-old woman unconscious in a random hit on the Upper West Side last month, police said.

Hansel Esparragoza, 37 – a Staten Island resident with 21 previous arrests – was charged with assault in the Sept. 13 videotaped attack on Geula Freeman at West 66th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, authorities said.

Esparragoza sported shaggy facial hair and wore a light green T-shirt, black sweatpants and rubber loafers as investigators led the handcuffed suspect out the front door of the 20th Precinct and into a waiting police car on Thursday.

He refused to answer questions about whether and why he hit the woman.

Most recently, Esparragoza was arrested in August for petty theft and in July for child endangerment – both in Staten Island, cops and sources said.

Footage of the attack on Freeman, obtained by Fox 5, shows the animal initially walking past the victim while walking his son’s Goldendoodle.

A few moments later, he turned around and senselessly punched the woman on the right side of her face, the video shows.

The sudden attack knocked Freeman to the ground unconscious, according to police and footage.

She suffered facial and head injuries and was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital for treatment, police said.

“I have amnesia, I don’t even remember what happened,” Freeman previously told The Post about the attack. “Aside from having the face and the body [bruises] to feel that.”

“I was told I had lost consciousness and had a concussion,” she continued.

Freeman said she didn’t believe she was the bully’s target but wanted him to get help.

“I don’t take it personally, it was a coincidence, no one just wanted to do it to me. I don’t take it personally,” Freeman said.

Still, the elderly victim, who has lived on the Upper West Side since 2007 and is a frequent visitor to Lincoln Center, said she has since become more alert as she traverses the Big Apple.

“It was such a surprise because I was told how it happened, that there was nothing I could have done,” she said of the attack.

“But at least now I’m paying attention to who’s coming towards me and not being too close to people, and like the last two days when I see people who are a little bit off, I just make sure I’m a “I’m a little far away from them, so I’m very vigilant.”