NY1 reporter Vivian Lee attacked inside newsvan by bedsheet wearing Theresa Casivant, 24

NY1 reporter Vivian Lee attacked inside newsvan by bedsheet wearing Theresa Casivant, 24

A veteran television reporter was attacked on a Brooklyn street Friday morning, police sources and witnesses said.

Vivian Lee, a longtime reporter for NY1, approached Theresa Casivant, 24, after she allegedly sneaked inside the news van and began using Lee’s makeup and munching on snacks shortly before 7 a.m., cops and witnesses said.

Lee was covering the death of Richard Schwartz, 61, a longtime lawyer for the state attorney general’s office who was killed Thursday after a lightning strike caused scaffolding to collapse on top of him.

The van was parked near Schwartz’s Cobble Hill home.

Lee approached Casivant — wearing a white sheet and green flip-flops — as she rummaged through the van, sources said. But when Lee got close, Casivant allegedly took a swing at the TV reporter.

The van’s driver quickly grabbed Casivant and pulled her out of the van, sources said. But once outside, the deranged woman punched Lee in the neck, sources said.

The van driver wrestled the woman to the ground before cops came to slap cuffs on her wrists.

Casivant, of Gravesend, was later charged with assault.
Lee later went to a local hospital as a precaution, witnesses said.
NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan said Lee sent him a note that she was fine.

Kiernan said he was shocked to hear of the early morning attack.

“There are situations you go into where, you know, it’s after dark, it’s a neighborhood you are worried about, and you are a little more on guard,” he said. “I don’t think a quiet Friday morning in Cobble Hill was one of them. I think that’s as much as what caught her off guard.”

The news station offered a simple statement saying, “We’re happy that she’s okay.”

Source NYDailyNews.com