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Man Caught On Video Slapping Woman On F Train Claims He Acted In Self-Defense

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The man who was caught on video slapping a woman on the F train after she allegedly taunted him and hit him with heel claims he did it in self-defense.

"I want to say to her, I'm sorry, because no man should hit a woman. But she didn't leave me no choice," Jorge Pena told reporters, including CBS2's Jessica Schneider.

Pena, 25, is the man wearing the hat in the video taken on the F train around 5 a.m. Saturday.

WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

Man smacks the soul out of girl on the NY Subway by MrDratliff23 on YouTube

He says he was traveling home to the Bronx after a night working security at a nightclub when the woman began berating him and making fun of his now-infamous 8-ball jacket.

Then, it got physical.

"She touched my mouth with her shoes and pushed me. And I said, 'What'd you do that for?'" Pena said.

Pena says she cut the back of his ear with her high-heeled shoe.

He says he had no choice but to hit back, adding he would never normally hit a woman.

"Believe me, if she didn't touch me like that, I'm never going to put my hands on her, never," he said.

Pena and his attorneys said they want more information from the district attorney about why he was held for several days on $1,000 bail while the woman who allegedly hit him several times was charged and released.

"She was the initial aggressor and Mr. Pena had the unfortunate consequence of having to sit in jail for approximately four days before he was released," attorney Joe Indusi said.

Pena says he is now ridiculed on the street.

He came to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 2011 and says he just wants to keep working hard for his almost 2-year-old son and family back home.

"I'm a man of work. I have a family. I came here to this country to play baseball. I played with the Oakland As," he said. "I want to be a regular person walking down the street, work. I work hard for my family."

The district attorney dropped the charges against Pena, but his attorneys say they aren't ruling out a lawsuit against the city.

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