Woman Beaten After Asking Straphangers To Wear Masks In Brooklyn

BROOKLYN, NY — A 60-year-old woman landed in the hospital last week after she was beaten for asking two straphangers to wear a mask on the Barclays Center station elevator, police said.

The woman was boarding the elevator at the Atlantic Avenue subway station around 12:18 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13 when a man and a woman tried to get on with her, without masks, police said.

Masks have been required on the city's subways since April.

When the woman asked them to put on masks if they were going to ride the elevator with her, the pair refused and began shoving and hitting her as she tried to stop them from getting on, according to police and video.

The 60-year-old woman is eventually pushed to the ground as the pair continue to beat her before leaving the station, according to police and video. She was taken to the hospital with bruising on her face and leg pain, police said.

Police described the male suspect as being between 16 to 20 years old and said he was last seen wearing a black knit cap, a black coat, gray pants and a light colored backpack. The female suspect is also 16 to 20 years old. She was last seen wearing a black and white sweater, dark colored pants and a black back pack.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.