It happened on the No. 5 train at around 11 a.m. Sunday in Grand Central Station, when a homeless woman flew into a rage after a woman with a baby refused to sit next to her. 53-year-old Jacqueline Sanjurjo of the Bronx slashed Anna Martinez, 31, who suffered nerve damage and required 30 stitches for her injuries.

Homeless woman sits down next to mother and baby

According to police, Martinez had boarded the train with her 18-month-old daughter in Harlem a few minutes earlier. The homeless woman boarded the train at the same time. According to a police source, Sanjurjo sat down next to Martinez, but when the homeless woman started acting strangely, Martinez became concerned for her daughter’s safety and moved to another seat.

Mother attacked by homeless woman on subway train

It was as Martinez moved her child’s stroller that Sanjurjo flew into a rage and attacked her, slashing the left side of the mother’s face with an unspecified object. The gash reportedly extended from the top of her head to her left eye. Martinez was taken to Bellevue Hospital with a head bandage soaked in blood. Her baby, fortunately, suffered no injuries.

The New York Daily News reports that Anna Flores, Martinez’s mother, arrived at the scene to collect the child and broke into tears at what the homeless woman had done to her daughter.

She couldn’t believe someone could do that to her daughter while she was with her baby.

Police were quick to arrive at the scene, but Sanjurjo initially fled the train as it pulled into Grand Central station. She ran through the station and up onto the street and managed to evade the officers. After police broadcast her description, including her clothing, they caught up with Sanjurjo at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

According to police sources, the homeless woman continued to act “erratically” when police took her into custody.

Police were unable to find the weapon on the suspect, but report that she has been arrested over 60 times in the past on various charges, including drugs, trespassing, and prostitution. Police said the homeless woman uses various aliases.

Sanjurjo is facing charges of two counts of assault, one of criminal possession of a lethal weapon and another count of behaving in a manner injurious to a child.

Attacks increasing on New York subway

The New York Post quotes various subway users as saying the latest attack goes to prove that something has to be done about subway crime, especially when related to mentally ill suspects. 49-year-old Elaina Cruz said the latest incident makes her no longer wish to ride the subway. She said incidents like the latest one are making her paranoid, especially when traveling at night.

The Post quoted an incident last month where a Brooklyn woman needed 40 stitches in the face after a suspect slashed her from her cheek to her lip on the A train. The suspect in that attack was a homeless man who had previously been arrested four times. That report also mentioned a 63-year-old woman who was attacked on a No. 1 train when a man wrapped a cloth over her face and attempted to rape her.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED