Woman Being Harassed by Group of Thugs at NY Subway Train Station, Fatally Stabs One, Thomas Winston, Then Flees on F Train

Woman, being harassed by group of men at a New York City subway station, allegedly stabs Thomas Winston to death and flees on F train.

It's safe to say that Thomas Winston never thought in a million years that he would lose his life on Christmas Eve. He was, allegedly, among several thugs who tried to drag a woman off the Queens, F subway train station, but they picked the wrong woman to harass. She reportedly fought back and fatally stabbed Winston before fleeing to another train, according to the NYPD.

The large group of men - perhaps as many as eight - surrounded the woman outside a chicken restaurant above the 21st St.-Queensbridge station about 9 p.m., police and a witness said. The harassment, which may have included unwanted sexual advances toward the woman and grabbing, continued as she entered the subway station.

The woman broke free from the men and frantically ran down to the platform and hopped on an F train, with the thugs right behind. "They tried to physically drag her off the train, but she fights back," one cop said.
The struggle continued as the group pulled her off the train and dragged her up the stairs to the mezzanine level. At one point, the woman stabbed one of her attackers - identified by family as Thomas Winston, 29, - multiple times in the chest. The woman then sprinted back down to the platform - with the thugs in hot pursuit, said witness  Ricardo Josephs, 41.

Winston, who lives in a nearby shelter and has a 10-month-old daughter, was pronounced dead at a Manhattan hospital. The woman was still in the wind Thursday night, police said. One police source said investigators suspect the woman was acting in self-defense. Source: NY Daily News

This incident reminds me of Bernard Goetz, who shot four young men whom he said were hellbent on mugging him. Goetz, dubbed as the "Subway Vigilante" before his identity was uncovered, was convicted for the illegal possession of a firearm in the incident. He symbolized the frustrations New Yorkers felt with the skyrocketing crime rates in the city during the mid-1980s. I hope law enforcement will not go out of their way to find this woman. She was protecting herself and if it means the life of a scumbag, then so be it. I am always amazed that the families of these thugs can give media interviews extolling the virtues of these dirtbags. According to the NY Daily News, Winston's aunt, Diane Greenspan, who I might add, reportedly has custody of this daughter, said she was stunned by his death. Winston seemed to be a career criminal. According to media reports, he has numerous prior arrests, including the sale of narcotics, with his most recent arrest in September.

Photo credit: F Train, Coble Hill blog