After a gruesome video captured a Westchester man assaulting a defenseless 78-year–old woman on the #2 IRT train near Nereid Avenue station in the early morning hours of Sunday, March 10 it didn’t take the NYPD much time to spring into action.
Police apprehended 36-year-old Marc Gomez of Yonkers on Saturday, March, 23 when he was spotted by a tipster in Greenwich Village.
The video showed Gomez allegedly kicking and punching a woman whose only defense was her own raised arms to block the blows.
Meanwhile heartless passengers recorded the attack rather than intervening to protect the senior citizen.
Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea stated shortly after the attack that “the victim was treated & released from the hospital & is getting the care, advocacy & support needed”.
“Thank you to the worldwide community for the tremendous assistance,” he posted on Twitter after the viral video aided in the police investigaton.
An online GoFundMe was started by Refinery29 news editor Ashley Alese Edwards to raise money for the woman who is reportedly homeless.
“I was horrified when I saw the video of an elderly woman being assaulted on a subway train in the Bronx,” Edwards stated. “Not only was she brutally attacked by a man, no one stepped in to help her; they instead just recorded the attack and posted it on social media. I live in New York City and take the subway daily, we should all be looking out for one another,” she continued.
The fundraiser managed to identify the woman as Geraldine Chase. As the fundraiser reached its goal the victim’s family requested it be cancelled on Tuesday, March 26.
