MTA Worker Suffers Broken Jaw After Being Punched In The Face On The Job
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – MTA workers are part of the essential workforce that's keeping the city running and making sure first responders and health care workers can travel to the frontlines.
However, transit employees continue to face challenges of their own.
Police say one worker was the victim of an assault earlier this week in Queens.
The attack happened around 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Queens Plaza station.
RELATED: 3 Questioned After MTA Bridges And Tunnels Officer Shot Dead On Staten Island
Police say the suspect approached the male employee and asked a question.
When the suspect got close enough, he allegedly punched the man in the face and then chased him with a golf club.
Police say the suspect took off with two other men, and the worker was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.
MTA officials said he suffered a broken jaw and swollen face.
"Any assault of an MTA worker is always reprehensible. Assaulting a transit worker doing their part to keep New Yorkers safe in the middle of a pandemic is despicable," NYCT Interim President Sarah Feinberg said in a statement. "We're working with the NYPD as it searches for these perpetrators and will do everything we can to support prosecution to the fullest extent of the law."
Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye said Friday that 50 workers have died of COVID-19.