Charges Dropped For Man Allegedly Seen Slapping Woman In F Train Brawl
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Charges have been dropped against a man who allegedly slapped a woman during a fight on the F Train this past weekend.
Jorge Pena had been one of four people charged in connection with the brawl around 5 a.m. Saturday, as the F Train rolled into the West 4th Street subway station in Greenwich Village. The video that documented the brawl quickly got more than a million people talking online.
WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
The video starts out with a quarrel in progress, a woman tells a man that he is wearing "a wack eight-ball jacket that came out in 1990," and goes on to say: "I'm done. I'm just done. Get your money up."
The woman later goes on to strike the man with her shoe and bag, and the man strikes back. A subway brawl then breaks out.
When the train arrived at West 4th Street, the woman – identified by police as Danay Howard, 21, and the man, identified as Jorge Pena, 25 – were arrested along with another man and woman.
Police have since dropped charges against Pena, and have concluded that he acted in self-defense.
Pena's attorney, Cary London, released a statement to CBS2.
"My client feels terrible for what happened, he would never have hit a woman, but acted in self-defense and feels vindicated by the District Attorney," London said in the statement.
London also told CBS2 he and his client are exploring options on whether to sue the city for wrongful imprisonment, since his client spent over 100 hours in jail.
Some argued earlier this week that it is not acceptable for a man to strike a woman under any conditions.
"Her behavior was inappropriate, aggressive and certainly provocative – absolutely, absolutely," said Patricia Napier-Fitzpatrick of the Etiquette School of New York. "But that still doesn't warrant him hitting her."
Pena and the other two arrested in the incident had been charged with misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct in the case, but Howard was charged with a felony. Police said they are continuing to pursue the charges against the other three defendants.
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