Man Arrested in Subway Attack Says Woman Threatened Him

Man Arrested in Subway Attack Says Woman Threatened Him
Passengers wait inside a stopped C subway train in N.Y.C., on April 21, 2017. (Brendan Mcdermid/File Photo via Reuters)
3/25/2019
Updated:
3/25/2019

NEW YORK—The man facing an assault charge in connection with an attack on a 78-year-old homeless woman on a New York City subway claims she threatened him with a knife.

The New York Post reports the court-appointed attorney for Marc Gomez made the claims at the 36-year-old’s arraignment early Sunday, March 24, in Bronx Criminal Court.

Gomez, of Yonkers, New York, had been arrested Saturday in connection with the March 10 encounter, which was caught on video.

One video was posted to social media by Hakeem Carew and circulated to Twitter by a user named Rello. That video alone was viewed nearly 9 million times at the time of publication.

The footage showed Gomez assaulting the woman, while she was sitting on the subway around 3 a.m. on March 10, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said.

Warning: Video shows disturbing content.

Gomez punched and kicked the 78-year-old woman, who got treated for cuts, bleeding, and swelling at a subway station by medics who responded to the scene, but she declined to go to a hospital.

Attorney Steven Mechanic said his client insists the woman threatened to stab Gomez and displayed some kind of sharp instrument, The Associated Press reported.

Twitter user Rello, who posted the footage, was asked if he recorded the video, but he said that he was not there.

“For everybody asking me if this is my video. No, and if I was there it was not going down like that. He was not getting away. New York City has to get better with ’minding our own business.' See something say something goes for everything,” he said.

“I only screen recorded the video to help catch this guy. You never put hands on any woman. Especially an older woman,” he added. “And any real New Yorker would’ve done anything but record this. These were obviously kids on the train with no real sense but to say ‘Ooos’ & ’Ahhs.'”

Shouts can be heard in the background but no riders came to the woman’s defense. At least two people filmed the assault.

As the train pulled into a station, the man yelled something at the elderly victim before turning around and looking at one of the people filming.

“WorldStar that, my [expletive],” he said, directing the person to upload the footage online.

The person filming continued standing still and recording instead of going to the woman and helping. She was seen holding a hand to her head and was in obvious pain.

No one called 911 right away, police officers told the New York Post.

Officers were finally notified when the train arrived at the next stop when someone who witnessed the assault got off the train and told an officer at the station.

NTD reporter Zachary Stieber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.