A feisty elderly woman on her way to a New Year's Day church service fought back when violent teenage girls punched her during an attempted robbery at a Brooklyn subway station, police said. .
Linda Rosa, a 71-year-old former MTA computer operator who lives in East New York, got off the train on Platform 3 at Hoyt Street just after 6 p.m. and was just passing through the turnstile when four girls spotted her. One of them tried to grab her purse. she told the Post Friday.
“And I [said to myself]”Oh, no, that's not going to happen today,” Rosa said.
Then another teen also tried to grab Rosa's bag and said, “Oh, you want a fight?”
Rosa kept a tight grip on her wallet, but did not discourage the would-be robbers.
“The first one kept fighting,” Rosa said. “She hit me in the face and I'm wearing glasses and I have a cut on my nose. When she hit me in the face, my glasses flew to the floor.”
“During that time, the other young woman was still trying to distract me, trying to get my notebook out, reaching into my wallet, trying to pull something out of my wallet,” she recalled.
The boy eventually grabbed Rosa's pocket pouch, which contained her identification and medical records.
“I was still wrestling with the first one,” Rosa said. “Then I tried to kick her between the legs and I think my legs didn't extend enough and that's when I fell. I fell and she stepped on me.”
Rosa said she took action because she felt she was not done dealing with the hostile teens.
“I had the impression that she was going to step on me again, but she was going for my head,” she said. “So I quickly stood up, grabbed her braid, put it in my right hand, and pulled her down. She had her head down. Then the other young woman said, 'Let me go.' Said. So I said, 'Oh, no, I'm not going to let her go.' ”
The senior yelled for someone to help, but then she noticed the second teen throw the pocket pouch to the ground and come towards her again.
“So out of nowhere I grabbed her hair and wrapped it around my left hand,” Rosa said. “That's why I turned them both face down…”[like] They ram into each other as they prepare for battle. ”
The other girls shouted, “Let me go!” Let them go! ”But Rosa endured and cried out. “I need help!” I need help! ”
After a while, Rosa let go and began picking up her belongings from the floor.
The startled teens ran up the stairs when Rosa told them she was going to call the police.
Rosa, who retired from the MTA in 2016 after working there for about 42 years, then headed to the nearby Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, where staff tended to her and called 911.
She was taken to Brooklyn Hospital Center for treatment.
Rosa said she was thankful she wasn't injured more seriously.
“Thank God they weren't armed,” she said. “Thank God I didn’t have a heart attack or stroke and die!”
Rosa's attackers – seen in footage released by the NYPD as they pass through the turnstiles – were still on the loose Friday, but Rosa has already given them some reprieve. he said.
“I forgive them. They don't know what they're doing,” Rosa said. “They don't know what they've done. It's just teenagers doing stupid things.”
The attack occurred during an intense stretch of the city's transport system, in which a woman was burned and a man was thrown in front of a train and stabbed and slashed multiple times.
“It can happen to anyone,” Rosa said of the violence. “Right now we're seeing older people being attacked. Anywhere – it could happen anywhere, at any station. You could be walking down the street. You could be crossing the street. yeah.”
