A woman was brutally assaulted Wednesday morning at a Metro station in Pasadena in an attack that authorities described as attempted murder.
About 5:45 a.m. at the Allen Metro station near Pasadena City College, a man suddenly went up to the woman and punched her in the face, authorities said.
He continued to punch the woman until she fell to the ground, where he then grabbed her and began to strike her head against the platform several times, according to internal preliminary reports from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority obtained by The Times.
The man then pushed the woman onto the tracks and dragged her across the concrete freeway divider and onto the 210 Freeway, which runs parallel to the aboveground Metro platform, the reports said. The woman was then able to escape and has since been treated at a hospital, where she was reported to be in stable condition pending further medical evaluation.
The attack was unprovoked, according to authorities, and the woman did not know the man.
A person matching the description of the suspect was located a few blocks away and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, according to deputies from the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Transit Services Bureau. Further information is being withheld pending additional charges.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who serves as chair of the Metro Board of Directors, said she was deeply disturbed by the details of the attack.
“Our board will need a full investigation into this incident, an accounting of where both Metro’s contracted law enforcement and transit security were when this woman was attacked, and a plan to increase security during early morning commuting hours,” Hahn said. “Our trains, buses, and stations must be safe for our riders, and we have to continue to implement safety reforms to get our system to that point.”
Times staff writer Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.
