Woman Riding Bike Near Penn Station Claims She Was Knocked Down, Punched
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It was a terrifying moment for a local woman. She said she was assaulted while riding her bike in Manhattan this week.
In the moments after the alleged assault, the victim took a video. She said two men attacked her and then casually walked away, with one stopping only to make an obscene gesture, CBS2's Kiran Dhillon reported Thursday.
"It happened so fast that I didn't have time to react," the victim, "Ina," said.
The unprovoked attack occurred on Tuesday at around 9 p.m. on Eighth Avenue and 35th Street.
"They started running towards me, shoulder to shoulder, right here," Ina said.
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The victim, who was identified as Ina for security purposes, said she was cycling north in a bike lane when two men appeared in her path and one knocked her off her bike.
"The guy came back and punched me and I fell over and I nearly hit my head on this pole and then he hit me again while I was hunched like this on the ground," Ina said.
Shocked and in disbelief, Ina said the men simply strolled off.
She suffered cuts and bruises to her upper body and legs, but said the worst part was that dozens of people witnessed the attack and not one came to her aid.
"Pretty traumatized and in shock because I never would have guessed something like this would happen to me in such a public area.," Ina said.
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Officials said the investigation is ongoing, but no arrests have been made yet. Anyone with information is asked to call police.
Many people who work in the busy area around Penn Station said they're upset by news of the attack.
"That's very surprising, especially here on Eighth Avenue, that all these people are around that something would happen," one person said.
"It's not the safest neighborhood anymore," another person said.
"It's not surprising, yeah. It's not cool," another added.
Ina's advice to others if they find themselves in a similar situation is to do something immediately to avoid bystander apathy.
"Direct the attention towards you, pick someone in the crowd and say, 'You, help me,'" she said.
For now, she's just praying the suspect gets caught.