A straphanger was slugged within the face by an irate seatmate on a Manhattan-bound subway — however he managed to wrestle the “little b**ch” to the bottom till cops may intervene.
Alexander Rakitin, 42, was using the N Practice to his Manhattan finance job Monday morning when he sat down subsequent to 34-year-old Timothy Barbee.
Because the practice took off, the automotive jolted inflicting Rakitin’s knee to jostle Barbee’s — which set the alleged assailant off.
“Apparently my knee touched his knee. That triggered him,” Rakitin advised The Publish.
“He was just very aggressive. I’m like, saying, ‘Dude, just chill, it’s like 8:30 in the morning. Like, who needs this s**t. Just chill.’”
Footage taken by one other straphanger captured the 2 staring one another down, earlier than Barbee yelled “It’s f**king done, stop staring at me” — and proceeded to inform the protesting Rakitin “make me chill” and “shut the f**k up.”
Their verbal trade quieted for a second whereas they continued to stare one another down, earlier than Barbee stated “I ain’t got time to go to jail today.”
Then he smacked Rakitin throughout the face — sending his glasses flying — earlier than the digital camera reduce out.
“I was able to wrestle him to the ground after that, and just kind of hold him,” Rakitin stated. “And the craziest half was that — and that is actually upsetting, like I’m really emotional about it — individuals on the practice had been making an attempt to assist him. Like, that was probably the most insane factor.
“It was also remarkable — he went from acting like such a thug. And then he turned into a little b***h right away. He’s like, ‘I can’t breathe. Please, let me go. Please, let me go. I can’t breathe. Somebody give me some water. I can’t breathe.’ And people started giving him water. That was so insane.”
“People started helping [Barbee],” Rakitin added. “And they were like, ‘Dude, just let him go. Let him go.’ I’m like, ‘Are you crazy?’ Like, if I let him go, he’s just gonna get up and hit me again. Like, I don’t want that.”
Rakitin continued to pin Barbee down till the practice pulled into the following station. As soon as police arrived they hauled the aggressor away.
“They asked me if I want to press charges. I said, ‘Yeah, why not?’ Like, this person, he can’t just walk around, punching people,” Rakitin stated.
Barbee, a Brooklyn resident with no prior arrests, was charged with third-degree assault.
Rakitin was left with lacerations and scratches to his face, however declined medical consideration.
He stated the assault ought to come as no shock to anybody.
“To be honest, like everybody sees the way the city is — it’s not like it’s changing. I already saw that the city is like this, that you’re in a constant danger of aggression or violent crime,” he stated.
“It’s not like it’s changing. It’s just kind of reaffirming that that’s the way the city is.”
