Watch CBS News

Man, 76, Says He Was Beaten On Subway For Trying To Wake Sleeping Boy

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 76-year-old man was shocked Wednesday night than an assailant would brutally attack him after he was only trying to wake a child who was with the attacker on a subway train.

On Wednesday, Dec. 19, around 3:50 p.m., Kazi Fathah was riding the northbound J train near the Alabama Avenue elevated station in East New York, Brooklyn. The suspect "exchanged words" with the man and began punching him repeatedly in the face, police said.

Fathah, a native of Bangladesh, cannot forget the assault, which left his eyes bloody, black and blue.

"Once, twice, and I was already unconscious," he said.

He told CBS 2's Derricke Dennis he was sucker-punched by the unidentified man riding with him on the J train, and caught on surveillance video calmly passing through the turnstiles as he exited at the Cypress Hills station in Jamaica, Queens.

Kazi Fathah
Kazi Fathah, 76, was beaten on a subway train as he tried to wake a sleeping child. (Credit: CBS 2)
Kazi Fathah
Kazi Fathah, 76, was beaten on a subway train as he tried to wake a sleeping child. (Credit: CBS 2)
Kazi Fathah
Kazi Fathah, 76, was beaten on a subway train as he tried to wake a sleeping child. (Credit: CBS 2)
Kazi Fathah
Kazi Fathah, 76, was beaten on a subway train as he tried to wake a sleeping child. (Credit: CBS 2)

Fathah's granddaughter, Shaon Hussain, said the attacker had no mercy.

"He probably has problems at home that he's taking out on other people," Hussain said. "But that should not be the case. You need to keep your problems to yourself."

Fathah says this attack started with simple act of kindness. He said he was trying to wake up a sleeping child on the train, when he says the suspect came out of nowhere.

"My grandpa was trying to be nice, trying to find out this child, if he was going to miss his stop," Hussain said.

"I thought he may miss his station," Fathah himself added.

Fathah said he didn't know the man and the boy were together. He never imagined that waking up the child would make him the victim of a bloody assault.

"He was crying like anything, he was looking to me, and seeing my blood, and he was crying," Fathah said.

The suspect was described as a black male between the ages of 30 to 35, standing about 6 feet tall and weighing 180 to 190 pounds, and wearing a black coat and dark-colored pants.

Police have released a surveillance video of the suspect.

Please leave your comments below...

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.