3 MTA subway operators attacked in separate incidents in one night in 3 boroughs

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Three subway train operators were attacked in a two-hour span in three of New York City's boroughs Saturday night.

At 8:30 p.m., a rider pushed his way into the train cab and punched the motorman in the face. It happened on the J line at the Essex Street stop on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Several other subway riders tried to intervene, and the attacker hit them, too. The train operator was treated at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

At 9:25 p.m., another rider assaulted a motorman with a beer can at the C line at the Euclid Avenue station in East New York, Brooklyn. He struck him in the right arm with the can and splashed beer on his uniform.

At 10:15 p.m., yet another rider spat in the face of a motorman on the platform of the northbound G line at the Court Square station in the Long Island City section of Queens. He was treated and released from Mount Sinai Hospital.

No arrests were made in any of the incidents.

MTA said in a statement, "An assault on our employees is an attack on all of us. These incidents are extremely disturbing and we remain committed to the safety and security of our employees."

One train operator who was targeted says he wants to see some changes from the MTA.

"So he says what are you gonna do and then he came in the cabin and punched me with his right hand, closed fist," said train operator Vickram Sorenda.

Without any rhyme, reason or warning, Sorenda says he was punched in the face by an agitated rider who managed to slip into his train operator room on the J train Saturday night.

"Caught me right here, and for a moment I didn't realize what happened, did he just hit me?, because I felt something really hard, and oh, he just hit," said Sorenda.

Sorenda says he warned the guy a couple of times before to stop leaning on his door, but when the train came to a stop at Essex Street, the attacker simply lost it.

Described as 6 feet tall, 230 pounds, it took several other riders to break up the fight.

"Some other passengers were telling him not to do that, step away, and he attacked them also, I'm not sure, 3 or 4. It was like a brawl on the train," said Sorenda.

Thought police do not believe the incidents are related, Sorenda believes more needs to be done to protect train operators as they do their jobs.

"We work in a very hostile environment, there's all sorts of people on there and some carry weapons. I could have easily been stabbed or something worse could happen," he said.