NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A homeless man with 77 prior arrests was issued a desk appearance ticket then he was set free for sucker-punching a 68-year-old woman in a random attack inside a Manhattan subway station officials said.
According to police, just before 8 p.m. Tuesday, the victim was inside the 34th Street-Herald Square station on the northbound R train platform, when she was punched in the face by 64-year-old John Chappell.
She was taken to Bellevue to be treated for her injuries, officials said.
Officers tracked down Chappell a short time later on West 34th Street near Sixth Avenue.
He was charged with assault and handed a desk appearance ticket, authorities said.
His prior arrests, dating back to 1986, were mostly for marijuana possession, reckless endangerment, assault, petit larceny, and turnstile jumping, according to a report from the New York Post.





