Police arrest suspect in subway hammer attack in Greenwich Village
NEW YORK -- Police have arrested a man accused of attacking an Asian man with a hammer at a Manhattan subway station.
The suspect has been identified as 48-year-old Christian Jeffers, and he has been charged with several crimes, including assault as a hate crime and menacing as a hate crime.
Sources believe the attack was motivated by the victim's nationality.
Witnesses say the suspect bumped into multiple people in the 14th Street subway station in Greenwich Village around 9 p.m. Tuesday. That's when police say the encounter turned violent
CBS2's Nick Caloway spoke to the victim, who did not want to be identified.
The victim says the attack was completely unprovoked.
"I couldn't get far enough and he ended up bumping into me. So at that point, he also turned around, trying to get into my face, being very aggressive towards me," he said.
Police say the suspect pulled a hammer from his bag and hit the victim one time in the head.
"It happened too quickly for me to process it. Next thing I know, I was just knocked on the ground and just shocked, like trying to figure out what just happened," the victim said.
He suffered a laceration and swelling near his eye. He was treated at a local hospital then released.
Sources tell CBS2 Jeffers has multiple prior arrests, including a 2020 arrest in transit. In that case, he allegedly made anti-Jewish statements.
He is also actively on parole.
The latest NYPD data shows crime in transit is up 81% so far this year compared to last year. This attack came just 12 days after a woman was attacked with a hammer at another subway station in Queens.
The victim in Tuesday's incident said the attack was terrifying, but it won't stop him from taking the subway.
"I mean, the subway is part of the city, so I'm not just going to let this scare me into not doing anything," he said.
Sources say the suspect was spotted by police buying drugs in a subway station in East Harlem. He was then taken into custody.
