A 13-year-old Brooklyn resident says an MTA clerk choked her during an altercation at a subway station in March—and she is suing the MTA for over $2 million.
According to the criminal complaint, the incident occurred on March 15th at the Smith-Ninth Streets subway stop in Gowanus. After a signal malfunction halted the G train around 4:30 p.m. that day, straphangers including teen Analia Muhammad—who was on the G en route home to Bedford-Stuyvesant from the Summit Academy Charter School in Red Hook—were told to walk to the Smith-Ninth station.
Muhammad's mother Herkema Powell told CBS that her daughter, who was in a school uniform at the time, had misplaced her student MetroCard and asked to enter through the exit before things escalated with MTA booth clerk Rida Elzeck.
"Everyone was going through the gate," Powell told ABC. "Nobody was paying by MetroCard, and when she went through, he yelled at her."
"He was cursing at her, calling her a 'retard' for no reason," Powell told the Daily News. Elzeck, 60, allegedly pushed the teen and put his arm around her neck, dragging her away from the entrance and obstructing her breathing. You can see partial video of the incident below.
Muhammad was taken into custody initially and handcuffed for three hours while officers questioned her. "They interrogated her and tried to scare her by getting on the phone in front of her, asking 'How much time for juvenile assault 2 charge?'" her family's lawyer, Scott Rynecki, told the News. Elzeck, who was treated for a bloody nose at a nearby hospital, has simultaneously accused Muhammad of assaulting him during the incident.
After reviewing the security camera video, police arrested Elzeck, charging him with misdemeanor assault, criminal obstruction of breathing, endangering the welfare of a child, menacing and harassment. He has been suspended from his job, and could be fired. "Mr. Elzeck, a 22-year veteran employee of the MTA, was injured and arrested after he pushed out a fare evader that refused commands to leave through the exit that was used for unlawful entry to the subway," said his lawyer Jay Schwitzman in a statement.
Muhammad's mother told CBS her daughter hasn't been doing great since the incident: "She has post traumatic stress syndrome. She’s not able to ride the train by herself or have anyone stand behind her. She’s really like scared and hasn’t been sleeping well and she’s just not the same as she was before the attack."
The family has also filed a $2.5 million lawsuit against Elzeck, the MTA, the NYPD and the city.
