Subway punch victim speaks out about frightening ordeal, suspect's criminal history

TIMES SQUARE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A woman who was sucker punched the subway, unprovoked and out of nowhere, by a man walking right toward her is speaking out about the frightening ordeal, all while we're learning more about the suspect's long criminal history.

"In the back in my head, I'm thinking, I saw his arm cock back, and am I about to get punched right now?" victim Erin Reilly said.

As a result, Reilly has a black eye and a red bruise across the bridge of her nose.

"It was just brut force that did this, unfortunately," she said.

The red imprint is from the glasses she wears, which likely prevented real damage to her eye sockets when the suspect, 41-year-old Kareen Bryant, sucker punched the 27-year-old Massapequa Park resident on the 2/3 subway platform in Times Square.

"I was about to go up off of the platform, and this man just came out at me," she said. "As fast as I was walking, briskly, this man walked towards me with his hand (up in the air)."

Reilly was headed home after hanging out Tuesday evening, and it was just after midnight Wednesday when she says she and Bryant crossed paths.

"I'll step to the left, because he looked like he was coming to the right," she said. "I literally had three seconds to react."

Bryant's criminal history is a familiar tune, with more than three dozen arrests and mental health issues.

"I do believe that there's something wrong if this man was arrested 36 times and is still able to harm people," she said. "And I just want to make sure that he doesn't harm others."

She also believes more should be done to protect paying customers on the subway.