BY THE VILLAGE SUN | Police made an arrest Wednesday afternoon in a hammer attack that occured the previous night inside the subway station at 14th Street and Seventh Avenue.
The suspect, Christian Jeffers, 48, was charged with assault, aggravated harassment and menacing, all as hate crimes.
The victim was a 29-year-old Asian male who was returning from a restaurant.
According to police, Jeffers, who was wearing a wig, purple lipstick and small, tight red jacket and identifies as a woman, bumped into the victim, then lunged at him with the hammer. He struck him on the side of his head and drew blood. The victim was treated for his injury at Bellevue Hospital.
Initially, police had said the incident was sparked by a dispute between the two.
Jeffers was arrested after being spotted by a police officer the next afternoon allegedly jumping a turnstile at a spot farther west along the L subway line on W. 14th Street, according to cops. The officer was able to identify him because he was wearing the same distinctive clothing.
Asked on what basis police charged the suspect with a hate crime, besides the fact that the victim was Asian, a police spokesperson did not give any specifics, but said it was based “upon apprehension and…investigation.”
According to the Daily News, Jeffers, who lives on the Upper West Side, has 56 prior arrests, per police sources. He was sentenced to five years in prison for robbery in 2015, and was paroled in June.
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