Mother Punched In The Face Trying To Protect 8-Year-Old From Bronx Subway Attacker, NYPD Says
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Police are looking for a man accused of trying to attack a child and punching his mother on a Bronx subway platform.
The attack happened back on Dec. 23 and the NYPD has now released a photo of the suspect.
Eight-year-old Porfirio Mendoza is still shaken up over what happened to his mother almost ten days ago.
"It was bad," the child said.
Police say the two were walking along the Elder Avenue subway platform in the Soundview section around 12:40 p.m. when the man attempted to strike the child.
"We were coming from buying our groceries on the train. We got off and he got off right after us and spit on him… he was going to hit him for no reason because he didn't do anything," Irma Torres, the child's mother said.
Without hesitation, Porfirio's mother quickly jumped between the two and was punched in the face.
"He hit my face it got a bit swollen and bruised, but now we are better," Torres said.
The attacker then ran off. Torres says she also had a one-year-old beside her in a stroller. That child was fortunately not harmed in the assault.
"First come my children and I don't care what happens to me as long as they are good and I was not afraid," Torres told CBSN New York's Nina Kapur.
Investigators say the suspect was last seen wearing dark blue jeans, a gray hoodie, a black jacket, and black sneakers.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74682), logging onto the Crime stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enterings TIP577.