NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A suspect with dozens of prior arrests faces hate crimes charges in a hammer attack on an Asian man at a Manhattan subway station this week.
Christian Jeffers, 48, was arrested Wednesday, a day after the 29-year-old victim was attacked with a hammer on the 2-line platform at the 14th Street station at Seventh Avenue in Chelsea on Tuesday night.
Jeffers was charged with assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment as a hate crime, menacing as a hate crime, and criminal possession of a weapon.
Sources said Jeffers had a hammer and made anti-Asian statements to police while being arrested in Harlem.
Jeffers—who spent five years in prison for robbery in 2015 and was most recently released on parole in June—has 52 prior arrests, public records show.
The victim said Jeffers bumped into him and then pulled out the hammer. The victim’s friend took cell phone video that allegedly shows Jeffers during the attack.
The victim, who was hospitalized with head injuries, told WNBC that blood was running down his head and that he felt “shocked and dazed.” He said it’s unfortunate everyone has to be on heightened alert in the city.
“That we have to be afraid of—just being constantly aware—be afraid of anyone who’s passing by you,” he said.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber released a statement following the arrest: “We are grateful for the outstanding police work by the NYPD who were able to locate and arrest the person who attacked one of our riders within 24 of the incident. We will always stand up for our customers and their safety, and we expect this perpetrator of a hate crime will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
This is the second hammer attack in the subway in as many weeks. A 57-year-old woman was kicked down a stairwell and bludgeoned with a hammer during a robbery at the Queens Plaza station in Long Island City on the night of Feb. 24. The victim suffered a fractured skull. A suspect was arrested.
Subway crime is up 81% year-to-date, and nearly 87% in just the past month, as Mayor Eric Adams' subway safety plan enters its third week.
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