The construction worker who was arrested for the vicious beating of a woman in a Midtown bar's bathroom told the police he was acting in self-defense. According to court papers, Mbarek Lafrem said, "She was trying to push me so I punched her in the face twice and pushed her back in the stall."
Police say that Lafrem, 30, of Norwood, Pa., had tried to dance a 29-year-old woman at the bar Social on West 48th Street. She had refused, and he apparently followed her into the bathroom. In court papers, Lafrem explained to the police, "I was at the bar with the girl. I went into the bathroom and she started yelling at me. She was coming towards me so I grabbed her by the arms. She was trying to push me so I punched her in the face twice and pushed her back in the stall. She fell into the stall and hit her head."
The woman's friend later found her unconscious in the stall; the victim needed 50 stitches for a laceration and also suffered a fractured skull, a broken nose and a broken eye socket. The Post reports she was also found with "one pant leg completely off and the other around her ankle, the court papers said." Lafrem was charged with attempted murder, assault and attempted rape. He's also being held without bail.
Police were led to Lafrem by a tip. The NY Times notes that the NYPD, which had released relatively clear surveillance video of the beating suspect, was surprised that they only received two tips: "The reason became clear, however, later Friday morning when a worker from a Midtown construction site called the police tip line and identified the man in the video... It turned out that the suspect was a laborer from Pennsylvania working on a construction job at 16 West 34th Street, near Herald Square, and staying at the Best Western Hotel a block from Social." NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said, "He was not residing permanently in the city. With a typical suspect, residing in one of the five boroughs, we would have expected more calls."
