Woman Hit With Cane, Racially Harassed At Brooklyn Subway Station, Police Say

BROOKLYN, NY — Tensions flared at a Brooklyn train station when a passenger was targeted in a sudden confrontation, during which a fellow straphanger hurled hate speech, harassed, and assaulted her.

According to police, a 29-year-old woman was standing in the southbound mezzanine of the Kings Highway and East 16th Street subway station in Brooklyn when a stranger began yelling profanities and telling her to “go back to her country.”

When the woman tried to walk away, the man followed her to the southbound platform, continuing to yell profanities, police said.

When the woman began recording the man in an attempt to document the incident, he struck her with his cane, causing pain and bruising to her right hand, an NYPD spokesperson told Patch.

The suspect is described as a man between 55 and 65 years old with short blond hair. Police say he was last seen wearing a multi-colored collared shirt, blue jeans, black sneakers and carrying a black book bag and a cane.

Police said the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is currently investigating the incident, and no arrests have been made. On Tuesday, authorities released surveillance photos of the suspect.

Police are urging anyone with information to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website.