18-Year-Old Bay Ridge Student Turns Himself In For Brutal Subway Beating

SUNSET PARK – The NYPD announced yesterday that an 18-year-old Bay Ridge high school student was arrested for the brutal beating of a 30-year-old commuter on an “R” train last Friday afternoon.

Rustem Lamaj turned himself in on Monday, the New York Daily News reports. Police say that Lamaj stepped on Anthony Hamoui’s foot while the two were traveling on a crowded southbound “R” train on Friday. When Hamoui confronted Lamaj, the teen reportedly punched the victim in the face, knocking him to the floor of the subway, and continued to punch and kick Hamoui in the head and face while he was down, the police report.  Hamoui was beaten so badly, he suffered cardiac arrest and a pulmonary embolism, according to the Daily News.

Lamaj left his cell phone behind after fleeing the scene at the 36th Street station in Sunset Park, the paper says. Hamoui’s girlfriend picked up his phone and handed it over to investigators, helping them to identify Lamaj.

A student at South Brooklyn Community High School, the Daily News reports, Lamaj was released on $15,000 bail. He is charged with attempted murder and assault, police say.

Hamoui was taken to Lutheran Hospital where he is in critical condition, the New York Post reports.

“The victim cannot breathe on his own and he could still die,” Assistant District Attorney Tziyonah Langsam told the Daily News.