A 30-year-old man and his service dog were both punched on a 4 train yesterday afternoon. The assailant, Herman Williams, was apparently upset that the dog was sitting on a subway seat.
A police spokesman said that Williams approached the man and asked him to move his dog and when the man didn't move his dog "enough," Williams struck the dog in the head. Then the dog's owner stood up, and Williams allegedly punched him in the mouth. The Daily News reports that three of the victim's teeth were knocked out.
Williams was arrested at the 161st Street-River Avenue stop and charged with assault, menacing and harassment, plus unlawful possession of marijuana (he was apparently found with four small bags of marijuana and two marijuana cigarettes").
According to the MTA, service animals are allowed on the subway, but "'Service animal' means a guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability that such person is unable to perform due to such disability, such as guiding persons with impaired vision, alerting persons with impaired hearing to sounds, pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items or providing rescue assistance. The term service animal does not include a therapy animal or animal used for emotional support."
