Suspect In Custody After Women Attacked On No. 6 Train
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two women were rushed to the hospital after being attacked on a train as it pulled into a Midtown subway station on Monday.
As CBS 2's Hazel Sanchez reported, Ashley Jacob, 31, allegedly snapped and went on the violent rampage on the uptown No. 6 train at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue, around 10 a.m.
Sources told CBS 2 that a 39-year-old woman was traveling on the train when Jacob lunged at her with a knife, but was held back by other straphangers.
Jacob apparently snapped after a fellow passenger looked at her.
Suspect In Custody After Women Attacked On No. 6 Train
When the train pulled into the station, Jacob allegedly lunged at the victim again, stabbing her in the stomach and the shoulder, sources said.
As a group of passengers tried to intervene, Jacob allegedly punched a 19-year-old woman, identified as Melissa Hernandez, in the face, according to sources.
Straphangers and a security guard from Bloomingdales held Jacob until police arrived. A knife was recovered at the scene.
Following the assaults, Jacob was seen on the ground, surrounded by police officers, with her upper body confined in a restraint. She was then loaded into an ambulance by officers.
As CBS 2's Janelle Burrell reported, Charles Williams, a street cleaner, was one of the men who ran to help hold down the alleged assailant until police arrived.
"I was cleaning-up up here, and some people ran up here saying, 'Somebody stabbed somebody,' and me being a Good Samaritan, I just went down to help," Williams said. "The situation -- I don't want it to get out of hand."
Meanwhile, the stabbed victim, who witnesses said was bleeding profusely, walked into the underground Bloomingdales subway entrance.
"The victim actually came to our subway entrance," said Anne Keating, store senior vice president. "We saw that she was visibly injured."
Employees administered first aid until paramedics arrived.
"They called EMS immediately, and then another group of our security officers went out to the subway platform and helped the Good Samaritan who had secured the stabber," Keating said.
As for Williams, he insisted he is no hero, but just a bystander acting on instinct.
"I just went off pulse to help," Williams said. "I didn't think at the time what could happen, I just wanted to save some lives. I just thought it could have been anyone in my family, anybody else's family in New York City."
The stabbing victim was being treated Monday evening at Weill Cornell Medical Center. Hernandez, the woman whom Jacob allegedly punched, was severely traumatized after the attack.
"She's so scared. She was hysterically crying," said her mother, Jedy Hernandez. "When she called me on the phone, I could not understand a single word from her."
Jedy Hernandez said even though Jacob is under arrest, her daughter doesn't want to take the train anymore.
"I'm scared to let her go, too, but she's very young and she has to continue her life," Jedy Hernandez said.
Jacob appears to be homeless and may have psychiatric issues, police told 1010 WINS' Al Jones. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital for an evaluation.
The investigation was ongoing.
You may also be interested in these stories:
