Police Arrest Man Accused of Kicking 78-Year-Old Woman on NYC Subway

Police have arrested a man suspected of brutally kicking a 78-year-old woman multiple times on a New York City subway, the NYPD announced Saturday.

New York Police Department (NYPD) Chief Dermot F. Shea announced Saturday via Twitter that authorities arrested the suspect accused of kicking the woman and took him into custody, adding that the victim received treatment for her injuries at a hospital and was later released:

The arrest comes one day after a graphic video of a man kicking a 78-year-old woman on a subway surfaced on social media. The NYPD later confirmed the legitimacy of the video and asked the public for assistance in identifying the suspect.

Police identified the suspect as Marc Gomez, a 36-year-old restaurant worker from Yonkers, the New York Post reported.

Gomez was taken into custody and charged with felony assault in connection to the incident.

Gomez, through a court-appointed attorney, said in court that he did not kick the woman and that the woman threatened him with a knife.

“She was homeless and lying across the seat and wanted all other passengers to move,” Gomez’s court-appointed attorney, Steven Mechanic, said of the 78-year-old victim in Bronx Criminal Court on Sunday.

“She said, at that point, ‘I have a knife, and I’m going to stab you,’” and flashed “a sharp instrument,” the lawyer added.

A judge ordered that Gomez remain in jail instead of being released on $30,000 bond after prosecutors said he had a prior misdemeanor conviction on his record.