Brooklyn Woman Pepper-Sprayed While Breaking Up Fight On Subway
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A Brooklyn woman was pepper-sprayed while trying to break up a fight on the subway.
Christina Garcia Brown was on her way to a doctor's appointment Thursday morning when the northbound A train she was riding stopped at the High Street subway station in Brooklyn and she heard a fight.
"The guy kept stopping the train from moving, he kept physically putting his feet in the doorway, pulling the doors open, so the train didn't move. So he was insistent on coming back in the train to do harm to these young men," she told CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis.
The mother of six said she couldn't just stand by.
"If something happens to my husband, to my kids, to my grandkids, I would want somebody to jump in," she said.
So she did, and ended up getting pepper-sprayed by the suspect.
"I got the brunt of it and from that point, I was coughing, I couldn't stop coughing, I couldn't breathe," she said.
Sources said one other person suffered neck and back injuries from the stampede the incident caused.
The suspect, who police identified as 24-year-old David Dennis, was arrested. Sources said he was ranting about celebrities.
During the incident, police deemed the station a crime scene, holding up train traffic for about 90 minutes during rush hour.
"Yes, it caused some inconvenience as far as the people that were on the train getting to where they need to go. I get that, because I was one of those people. However, it could have been a lot worse," said Brown.
She said police did everything they needed to do to keep passengers safe.
The New York City Transit president was vocal in saying police should not hold up the trains this long. An MTA spokesperson said they will be working with police to improve the process.
