Woman Fights Back After Attack From Subway Masturbator, NYPD Says

SUNSET PARK, NY — A woman fought back against a subway masturbator who pepper-sprayed and stabbed her when she confronted him early Friday morning, eventually turning the knife on him, police said.

The 42-year-old woman was riding the southbound R train at about 1:50 a.m. when she saw Reggie Frank, 47, masturbating on the subway, the New York Post first reported.

When the woman yelled, Frank sprayed her in the face with a can of pepper spray, a spokeswoman for the NYPD said. Frank, of Newark, N.J., then took out a folding knife and attacked the woman, cutting her in the hand.

The woman fought back and turned the knife on Frank, who was eventually stabbed in the left arm and torso, authorities said. Both were taken NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn where Frank was arrested and charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and public lewdness by police.

Frank has been arrested 26 times before, including 11 for public lewdness, and is on probation for one of them, the Post reported. He was also been sought by police for another public lewdness case on a train, according to the paper.

He was arrested in 2015 after exposing himself on a Brooklyn 3 train, which made headlines after rider Tiffany Jackson snapped a pic of him and posted it to Instagram, CBS New York reported.

Image: Patch file photo