A brave elderly woman was on her way to a New Year’s Day church service when a group of violent teen girls attempted to rob her inside a Brooklyn subway station, according to police.
Linda Rosa, 71, a retired MTA worker from East New York, had just exited a No. 3 train at Hoyt Street around 6 p.m. when one of the four girls tried to snatch her purse, she told The Post on Friday.
“And then I [said to myself], ‘Oh, no, this is not going to happen today,’” Rosa said.
Another teen also tried to grab her bag and challenged her to a fight, saying, “Oh, you want to fight?”
Rosa held onto her purse tightly, but the girls persisted in their attempts to rob her.
“The first person kept fighting,” Rosa said. “She punched me in my face and I have my glasses on, and I have a cut on my nose. When she punched me in my face, my glasses flew to the floor.”
“Meanwhile the other young lady was still trying to distract me to get my pocketbook or go into my purse, to snatch something out of my purse,” she recalled.
One of the teens managed to grab a pocket pouch containing Rosa’s ID and medical records, she said.
“I was still wrestling with the first person,” Rosa said. “Then I was trying to kick her in between her legs, but my leg wouldn’t stretch far enough, so I believe that’s when I fell. I fell, and then she stomped on me.”
Sensing that the teens were not done, Rosa decided to take action.
“I got an impression in me that she was going to stomp me again, but she was going to aim towards my head,” she said. “So I got up right away, and with that, I grabbed her braids and twirled them around my right hand, and then I pulled her down. She had her head down. Then the other young lady said, ‘Let her go.’ And I said, ‘Oh, no, I’m not letting her go.’”
Calling out for help, Rosa saw the second teen toss her pocket pouch to the ground and approach her again.
“So out of nowhere, I grabbed her hair and twisted it around my left hand,” Rosa said. “So I had them both facedown….[like] rams when they’re getting ready to fight.”
Despite their protests to be let go, Rosa held on and continued to ask for assistance.
After a few moments, Rosa released the teens and began picking up her belongings from the floor.
As the startled teens fled up the stairs, Rosa warned them that she would call the police.
Rosa, who retired from the MTA in 2016 after 42 years with the agency, then made her way to the nearby Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, where she received care and 911 was called.
She was taken to The Brooklyn Hospital Center for treatment.
Reflecting on the incident, Rosa expressed gratitude that she was not more seriously injured.
“Thank God they didn’t have any weapons,” she said. “I thank God I didn’t have a heart attack and a stroke and die!”
While her attackers remained at large, Rosa shared that she was already offering them forgiveness.
“I forgive them. They do not know what they do,” Rosa said. “They don’t know what they did. It’s just teenagers acting foolish.”
The assault occurred during a violent period for the city’s transit system, which included a woman being burned to death, a man being pushed in front of a train, and multiple stabbings or slashings.
“It could happen to anybody,” Rosa said of the violence. “Now we’re seeing seniors getting attacked. Anywhere – it can happen anywhere, any station. You could be walking down the street. You could be crossing the street.”
