Cops Are 'Not Close' To Arresting Racist Subway Stabber

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK -- Police have yet to capture the man who called Ann Marie Washington a "Black b----" before ramming a screwdriver into her back and puncturing her lung.

Three weeks after Washington, 57, was forced to walk home from the Church Avenue station with a punctured lung as the man who attacked her hopped on a southbound Q train, NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said police were “not close" to making an arrest.

But Shea said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that investigators had found the weapon, which had been not yet been identified, and that the screwdriver will be examined in the NYPD forensics lab for fingerprints and other traces to the attacker.

The NYPD press office did not immediately respond to Patch's request for more information about when and where the screwdriver was found.

The man, who has not yet been identified, punched and stabbed Washington inside the Church Avenue station at about 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 9, fought off another woman who tried to stop him then got on a southbound Q train, officials said.

It is not yet known whether he fled on the train or returned to the platform and fled the station on foot, according to the NYPD.

Washington was later interviewed by police and examined by emergency responders, then allowed to walk home injured, her family said. The 57-year-old only realized she'd been stabbed when she woke up the next morning and found blood on her sheets.

News that she'd been allowed to walk home alone and that her attacker had not been stopped, or identified, outraged public officials who rallied at the station days after the assault.

"The police, at the time, didn't even drive her home," said state Senator Jesse Hamilton. "She had to walk home not knowing she had a punctured lung ... We have to do a better job."

Police released a sketch of the suspect and an updated description days after the press conference.

The suspect is about 25-years old with brown hair who stands about 5-feet 5-inches tall, according to wanted posters. He was last seen wearing a black sweater with red writing and black sweatpants with red zippers on the pockets.

Anyone with information about his identity or location is asked to contact police

Patch journalist Noah Manskar contributed to this report.

Sketch courtesy of the NYPD