Woman Dragged Onto Subway Tracks After Being Beaten by Homeless Man (VIDEO)
A woman has been dragged onto subway tracks in Philadelphia after being beaten by a man.
The man suspected of the horrific attack has been taken into custody. It has been reported that the man punched a young woman in the head, before dragging her by the ankles and throwing her onto the train tracks, a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority spokeswoman has said.
The suspect, William Clark, reportedly comes from Philadelphia, and he will now face assault, robbery, theft and reckless endangerment charges, a SEPTA spokeswoman has said.
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The vicious attack reportedly took place on Tuesday afternoon in Philadelphia's Chinatown. It is understood that the man and woman did not know each other, and that Clark attacked the 23 year old woman after approaching her to ask for a lighter. Authorities have said that the pair were the only two people at the Eighth and Race streets stop.
A surveillance camera has captured the attack, and shows the man punching the woman and pulling her off a bench she was waiting on. She tries to get back on her feet as she nears the edge of the platform but the man then throws her off and onto the track.
The woman was not hit by a train, and survived the ordeal. She has told KYW: "I started trying to fight him back as much as I could. After it was over, the first thing that popped in my head was my son."
After being thrown on the tracks the woman managed to get back up and climb up onto the platform again, suffering just minor bruises and cuts, according to reports.
The attacker is said to have fled the subway station after stealing the woman's cell phone. He is thought to be homeless. The suspect was arrested two days later on Thursday afternoon, as police identified him from the surveillance footage and the distinctive jacket he was wearing. There appears to be no specific motive in the attack, and authorities believe that he is mentally unstable.
The attack comes following two incidents in New York last month where people died on the Subway system after being pushed on the tracks. One man was pushed onto the track and killed by a train as he attempted to climb back on the platform, where as another man was pushed into the tracks by a woman, who allegedly hated Muslims and Hindus since September 2011.
Here is a video report on the latest attack:
