A 25-year-old woman was punched in the mouth inside a Bronx deli by an unknown attacker who hurled an anti-gay slur, police said.
The disturbing incident is being investigated as a hate crime, the NYPD said.
The unsuspecting victim was inside the 120 Circle Deli at Hugh J. Grant Circle, near Virginia Avenue, shortly before 11:30 a.m. Friday when she was approached by the twisted suspect, who yelled, “f—-t” and punched her in the mouth, knocking her to the ground, police said.
The assailant ran out of the store and was last seen boarding a northbound 6 subway train, authorities said.
The woman suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene by EMS, cops said.
The suspect is described as a man in his 30s with a dark complexion, standing approximately 6-foot-1. He was last seen wearing a white hooded sweatshirt with plastic bags around his feet, dark-colored pants and a white surgical mask, police said.
The assailant ran out of the store and was last seen boarding a northbound 6 subway train. DCPICops on Saturday released surveillance photos of the wanted individual obtained from the crime scene.
“I’m just a deli counter guy,” said an employee who answered the phone at the Bronx bodega Saturday afternoon.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating this incident.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
