Elizabeth Gomes, a Latina passenger who was brutally beaten on the New York Subway, could lose her right eye as a result of the beating she received by a suspect with a criminal and mental health record.
“He was chasing me or something” and ranting “about the devil, about… a lot of things you don’t even want to hear at five in the morning,” Gomes told New York Post while walking with her husband to the Queens courthouse for a grand jury hearing in the case.
“Our city he needs a lot of help,” added Gomes after removing his sunglasses to show his injuries from the horrific attack caught on security camera, which included swollen shut eyes and a cut on his right.
“We are going through a lot here”, said the mother of 33 years. “The mayor said we would have a lot more police on the subway and the police specifically would be patrolling the subways because that’s where we’re having the worst crime. Especially in places like the Howard Beach station”, where the attack happened around 5: 15 am on 21 September, when she was on her way to work.
Waheed Foster, of
In the attack of the week Gomes was accosted by a man who tried to start a conversation and followed her to the mezzanine. As she did not respond and ignored his advances, the assailant dragged her across the floor and slammed her against the wall, where he repeatedly punched her and kicked her in the face and body, according to the NYPD and the released video.
A bystander tried to intervene, but backed away when the assailant advanced on him and then continued to kick and punch Gomes several times before fleeing the scene.
According to police sources, six years after killing his grandmother, Foster was arrested for stabbing his sister in 21 years with a screwdriver. Later in 2010 he was arrested for attacking three workers at the Creedmore Psychiatric Center, where he was hospitalized. At the time of the attack last week, he had more than two years remaining on probation until November 2024.
Mayor Eric Adams, whose election campaign focused on public safety, has implemented several measures to make the subway safer, including deploying more police in stations and cars. But so far insecurity is still on the rise. In particular, last April was one of the most violent months in the history of the New York Subway since its founding in 1904.