Elizabeth Galarza Arrested For Allegedly Repeatedly Punching 2-Year-Old In The Face On Subway
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police have arrested the woman they say assaulted a 2-year-old child on the subway.
The incident happened around 3 p.m. Saturday on a northbound C train entering the 116th Street subway station.
Police say Elizabeth Galarza struck a 2-year-old boy in the face multiple times, then ran off.
The child's mother told CBS2 the attacker was panhandling and asked the man sitting next to them for money, and the mother asked her to stay six feet away.
The mother said the suspect walked away, but then stepped on the mother's foot, turned around and mumbled something. That's when the mother says the suspect started punching her 2-year-old child, who was asleep in his mother's arms, repeatedly.
"And I was just asking people, 'Can you all please get my baby! Please get him!' she explained. "And nobody tried to stop. They were just standing there."
Police arrived too late. The attacker ran off. The toddler was rushed to the hospital and released, but the trauma has set in.
The toddler was taken to the hospital and released. The child's mother says the doctor told her he would have seizures.
This attack follows the arrest of a homeless man who confessed to stabbing four people on the A train line. Police have since assigned 644 additional uniformed officers to patrol the subway system.
Galarza, 56, faces charges of assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child. She was arrested Friday morning in Manhattan.