NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Norton Blake, the man who viciously attacked a disabled woman at a platform of NYC subway station, has been indicted.
The grand jury has indicted Blake on two counts of assault and one count of attempted assault for ferociously beating the elderly woman which kept her in Harlem Hospital for two weeks.
Where did the attack take place?
The strongly built man claimed he was "defending himself" against his walker-bound victim, as per the indictment presented in a court.
The incident happened on September 1, 2023, at the West 116 Street and Lenox Avenue station in Harlem at about 3:20 am.
Blake was recorded hitting Laurell Reynolds in a video. He used her cane, took off his belt, and also struck her with his fists.
“She broke the cane hitting the turnstiles,” Blake allegedly told officers. “Then I hit her … I didn’t know it was a woman. I hit her a few times on her thighs and legs,” he added.
“Blake Norton needlessly resorted to violence when he allegedly assaulted a subway rider dozens of times,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
“The alleged acts reflect the serious and excessive nature of the assault, as the victim laid helplessly on the ground,” the DA added.
For how long can Norton Blake be in jail?
Blake, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, is most likely to be sentenced to at least three years behind bars or a maximum for 15 years, as per the prosecutors.
The Bronx local was kept at the Vernon C Bain Correctional Center, a jail barge moored on the Bronx’s south shore across from Rikers Island. He was on $75,000 bail or $100,000 bond, according to jail records.
“There are facts that are divergent from what we believe happened,” defense attorney Paul D’Emilia told the judge, emphasizing that his client "probably has some kind of drug or mental health issues".
“There are facts that are divergent from what we believe happened,” D’Emilia said, adding. “My client is disabled. “[Reynolds], in fact, wrestled the cane away from him and starting hitting him with the cane initially … there’s two sides to this, but we can deal with that later.”
The video clip was made by an MTA worker, in which Reynolds is heard screaming as Blake repeatedly hits her.
“I was helping you with your f**king walker on the stairs, it just happened to fall down!” he shouted in the footage, as per the New York Post.
“I was trying to be a brother to you!” he continued, before telling her to “shut the f**k up.”
Blake was arrested by the NYPD’s warrant squad a few days later.
