Race Attack Victim Left To Walk Home With Punctured Lung: Pols

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — A man shouted "Black b----" before punching and stabbing a woman on a Q train subway platform Friday, according to police sources. Now Brooklyn officials are calling for an investigation as to why the Q train was allowed leave the station, providing the attacker with a getaway car, while his victim was forced to walk home with a punctured lung.

"This mother was merely walking up the steps, no dispute, no argument" said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams Monday afternoon. "The only reason is because of his sick mind, the hatred permeating in this country at this time."

Ann Marie Washington, 57, was coming home from work when she was chased down the Church Avenue station platform near East 18th Street about 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 9, police said.

The man hurled racial and gender slurs at the woman, punched her in the mouth, stabbed her in the back and fought of another woman who tried to stop him, officials said in a press conference Monday.

The witness tried to alert the Church Avenue station clerk that a violent man was escaping on the southbound train, but it was allowed to depart and continue on its route, said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

"Immediate notification should have been made to the next station," Adams said. "The train would have been held and the person would have been apprehended."

Washington only realized she'd been stabbed when she woke up the next morning and found blood on her sheets, officials said.

"The ambulance came, treated and released her. 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."

Washington is now being treated for a punctured lung at an area hospital, according to her children.

"My mom is a strong woman, she's recovering," said Tisha Washingon, who said her mother now has a tube in her lung and is in severe pain. "She's slowly recovering."

"We want justice for our mother," said her brother, Anthony Washington. "We cannot allow this to continue."

The NYPD Hate Crime Taskforce is investigating the incident, according to police, but a swarm of local officials gathered outside the station Monday and demanded to know why no sketches or images of the suspect had yet been released.

Elected officials are now calling for a canvas of all 11 stations on the Q line between Church Avenue and Coney Island, any one of which the attacker might have used to leave the subway, to identify images of the suspect, whom they say should be charged with attempted homicide.

They also want an investigation into how the incident was handled.

"We have to do a better job," said Hamilton. "Why weren't the trains stopped? Why didn't she get escorted home? "

Photo by Kathleen Culliton