HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) — A 60-year-old woman was beaten with her own cane on a Manhattan subway platform on Friday, police said on Tuesday.
The attack happened around 3:30 a.m. inside the subway station at 116th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem, according to the NYPD. The victim was walking up a flight of stairs inside the subway station with the suspect, police said. Eventually, an argument broke out between the two of them, where the suspect hit her with a cane and a belt, police report.
The attacker hit the woman with her own cane at least 50 times, the New York Post reported. The two-minute attack was captured on video.
The victim suffered swelling and pain on her body and was taken to a hospital.
Speaking out from her hospital bed, Laurell is recovering after being mercilessly beaten over fifty times with a belt and her cane on the subway platform.
“[He] beat like I’m nobody like my life don’t matter,” she said, “The man is an animal. He’s brutal – he has no right to be free. He needs to be locked up.”
The Brooklyn woman is still recovering from bruising to her body, suffered days ago at the hands of a stranger.
“I’ve never seen this man in my life,” she said.
Some straphangers who viewed the viral video are asking if the station agents’ actions were sufficient. While she remained inside the token booth, she did appear to call someone for help while describing the suspect and victim.
“They’re being trained, and part of the training is how to handle situations safety-related or quality of life issues,” explained Janno Lieber, MTA chair and CEO.
The suspect has been identified as 43-year-old Norton Blake, NYPD officials said. Police released surveillance images of the suspect, who hasn’t been arrested.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Charline Charles is a digital journalist from Brooklyn who has covered local news along with culture and arts in the New York City area since 2019. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
