A Bronx man’s commute took him to the hospital when a deranged man punched him in the face.
Eric Martinez, 40, said he was on a train Friday night 6 on his way home from his finance job in lower Manhattan and sat at the end of the car. He was listening to some music when he saw a man nearby.
“Out of nowhere I hear ‘Move over!’ He said. “I kept doing my thing. I hear it again. ‘Move!'”
Martinez said he felt like the man was watching him, then saw a punch coming at him.
“It was so fast. He hit me twice,” Martinez said. “Then he backed out for a second. I grabbed my things and went to the next car.
He was bleeding profusely and other passengers rushed to his aid. When the train stopped at Hunts Point Avenue, passengers reported NYPD officers at the station.
Martinez was able to name her attacker, who was arrested.
Martinez said he went to Montefiore Medical Center and received seven stitches near his eyebrow.
He said he’d never had a problem on the subway before and was used to “people yelling or talking loudly.”
“I watch the news every day. Something new is happening,” she said. “I just need to be, I guess, more vigilant.”
The NYPD identified the alleged attacker as Leonard Thompson, 36, who is homeless. He was charged with one count of assault. Forensic information was not immediately available.
Thompson has had eight previous arrests, including an August 2021 theft arrest that is scheduled to go to trial in January, sources and public records say.
