HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) – Police arrested the man allegedly seen on video beating a 60-year-old woman with a cane and a belt inside a Manhattan subway station, authorities said.
Norton Blake, 43, was arrested Wednesday and charged with assault in connection to the attack, police said. It happened at the subway station at 116th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem around 3:15 a.m. last Friday, according to the NYPD.
The 60-year-old woman was walking up a flight of stairs with the suspect when he got into an argument with her, police said.
The attacker beat the woman more than a dozen times with a cane and belt, police said. An MTA employee behind the station booth recorded the attack on video.
The victim spoke to PIX11 News from her hospital bed on Tuesday. She was still recovering from bruising to her body. The woman said her attacker was a complete stranger.
“[He] beat like I’m nobody, like my life doesn’t matter,” the victim said. “The man is an animal. He’s brutal. He has no right to be free. He needs to be locked up.”
Some people who viewed the viral video questioned whether the station agent’s actions were sufficient. While she remained inside the station booth, she did appear to call someone for help while describing the emergency.
“They’re being trained, and part of the training is how to handle situations that are safety related or crime or anything that is troubling, even just quality-of-life issues,” said Janno Lieber, MTA chair and CEO.
PIX11 News reporter Anthony DiLorenzo contributed to this report.