NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A man sleeping on a Queens train allegedly punched an on-duty MTA employee who approached to wake him early Monday morning, according to police.
The assault happened at around 3 a.m. while the victim, a 36-year-old employee was cleaning a train car at the 179th Street-Hillside Avenue station in Jamaica.
The employee found a 63-year-old man, Allen Sherman, sleeping on the train and tried to wake him up, police said.
She told the man that he had to leave the train and then the suspect allegedly punched her in the face.
The details of the events leading up to the punch are still unknown, police said.
Sherman was arrested, police said.
The victim was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens with minor injuries.
The attack raises subway safety concerns, especially after a subway conductor was slashed in Brooklyn in February. The MTA also introduced safety barriers a few weeks ago at the 125th Street 4/5/6 station in Harlem to protect conductors. The new barriers create a "no standing" zone to deter people from standing near the conductor's cabin.
