Bartender Beaten Inside A PATH Train
One of the biggest fears of anyone who rides mass transit is to be attacked randomly during the trip. Unfortunately this nightmare scenario played out for a Christopher Street bartender who was not only attacked on a PATH train on his way home from work, but claims the Port Authority Police Department is not actively seeking the criminals responsible. Andrea Swalec of DNAinfo has more in this report:
A bartender and singer at the Greenwich Village piano bar Duplex was attacked inside a PATH train station on his commute home — and he says the Port Authority police department has done little to find those responsible.
Michael Dionne, 44, who works at the Duplex bar and cabaret on Christopher Street at Seventh Avenue South, said he suffered a broken nose, stitches under his left eye, bruises and cuts on his face and scratches on his arms during the attack by a group of men on June 10.
The incident began when Dionne — who said he has sung at piano bars in Greenwich Village since 1992 — boarded the PATH train at the 9th Street station around 4:30 a.m. June 10 to travel to his Jersey City home, he said.
He said a group of four or five men, one wearing a long black wig and sequined blouse, boarded at the Christopher Street PATH train stop and began to surround him on the train. He said they sprayed him with vanilla-scented body spray, but never addressed him directly.
“They were loud and obnoxious but they didn’t say anything to me,” he said, adding that he told them to stop spraying him, which they did. He thought the incident was over, and exited the train at the Journal Square station.
But nearly two weeks later, Dionne said he hasn’t received a call or a visit from police officers investigating the case, and said his repeated calls to the PAPD have not been returned.
Click here for the complete report.
Let me first thank Andrea for tipping me off to her report, I appreciate it.
I find this extremely disheartening for a number of reasons. For starters, I never want to hear of a fellow passenger being attacked for no legitimate reason. However as bad as that is, can the Port Authority Police Department explain how they are investigating the incident yet nearly 2 weeks after it occurred, they have yet to interview the victim?
This is the first person that should be accounted for in your investigation & yet he was not. What kind of ass backwards investigation are they running ? If I were him, I would seriously look into getting a lawyer & forcing the department to put some legitimate effort into bringing the criminals responsible for this cowardly act to justice. I will continue to follow this story as I am curious as to how it will end.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Comments
Hello F,
I am sorry to hear that yet another incident took place on a PATH train recently. Over the years, I have taken it to Hoboken many times & did so at all times of the day & night. I never felt unsafe riding it or noticed sketchy characters.
However I am starting to wonder is this spike in crime just a random brief occurrence or are signs of a bigger problem finally starting to show themselves?
ON JUNE 21, TUESDAY NIGHT 10:07 PM PATH TRAIN TO NJ. THERE WAS A BIG FIST FIGHT BETWEEN 2 PASSENGERS THAT JUST GOT ON AND A MAN THAT WAS ALREADY ON THE TRAIN. THERE WAS NO SECURITY ON THE TRAIN. TO SAY THE LEAST, IT WAS VERY SCARY.
CALIFORNIA MTA has great transit police that walk between cars with their dogs while the train is running. They also have an emergency radio both on the cars and platforms where their surveillance team monitors platform and train activity. Why cant we have that here where people are habitually short tempered and quick with their fists and tongues.