Montreal police are trying to identify the man who viciously attacked a 74-year-old woman with a baseball bat moments after she drove into a parking garage in Cote-St-Luc Tuesday at noon.

Surveillance video shows Faigie Adelman drove into the underground parking garage of her apartment building on Cavendish Blvd., followed by a man who ran inside before the automatic door closed.

The video does not show the attack itself, but it clearly shows the man running toward Adelman and later fleeing the scene, rifling through her purse as he takes off.

Adelman was found bleeding and unresponsive minutes afterward by another resident of the building at 6000-6010 Cavendish Blvd. near Louis-Pasteur Rd. That man called 9-1-1.

Mike Leibowitz arrived as another tenant in the building was taking care of her.

“He was holding her hand and she had blood (around her head). He took his jacket and put it under her head, and he told me, ‘I couldn’t just leave her on the floor.’ He (the attacker) left her laying on the pavement. It was very bad,” said Leibowitz.

Adelman lives on the first floor of the building and was referred to by another neighbour as the “nicest woman that you can imagine.”

She suffered significant injuries to her upper body, said Montreal police spokesperson Manuel Couture.

"The woman is still in a critical state and is in an induced coma by doctors at the hospital," said Couture Tuesday evening.

Adelman remained in critical condition 24 hours after the assault.

Neighbour Allegria Marciano said she was upset by the incident.

"Really, how degrading can you be? Some old lady, no matter if she's old or young, how you do that? If you're going to do that, just take it and leave, why hurt someone in the process?" she said.

Neighbours said they don’t understand how such a violent attack could take place in broad daylight in an area generally considered to be one of the safest in the city.

“I honestly always felt safe here,” said a neighbour. “I never saw anyone casing the area. I did one time have my car broken into in the middle of the night but I still never felt that unsafe, especially during the day and going into the garage.”

The building has now beefed up security as police continue to search for the attacker.

No arrests have been made so far.

Anyone with information is urged to call Info-Crime at 514-393-1133.