A pregnant woman was attacked and punched in the face on a crowded late night bus in Philadelphia after she allegedly refused to give up her seat.
Authorities say the 6’2” attacker assaulted the woman at around 1.45am on Sunday. The bus driver alerted transit police, but the man fled.
“Police said the suspect approached the woman, who was seated, and demanded that she give her seat to him. When she refused, he punched her in the face and pushed her, then fled,” said SEPTA.
The woman was taken to hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Officials say that the suspect, a homeless man, was arrested on Monday, a SEPTA spokesperson said. His name was not immediately released.
A police report states that after the attack the suspect threatened to follow her and beat her up and that the victim “wanted to go to hospital to check on condition of the fetus”.
It is the second incident involving an attack on a pregnant woman on the transit system in the last six months, according to FOX29.
In September a knife-wielding suspect left a pregnant woman with minor injuries after an attack at a SEPTA station.
During that horrifying incident the suspect grabbed the 20-year-old woman from behind and held a knife to her neck.
She escaped by kicking the suspect and was left with a minor laceration, police said.
