Baton-wielding man threatens boy, 6, and his mom on NYC subway: 'Do you want to get hurt?'
A baton-wielding man, who was allegedly threatening a mom and her 6-year-old son on the subway in Manhattan, was busted on Tuesday, February 22. As per the cops, the man threatened the mother and son with a collapsible baton because the boy accidentally kicked him.
The 4 train was heading south on the Upper East Side around 2 pm when the 6-year-old named Logan made 'incidental contact' with 67-year-old Charles Hodge. The police state that the child kicked Hodge by mistake, after which the man responded by pushing the child. The mother revealed she confronted Hodge and it turned into an argument that the other passengers tried to stop.
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"It was just the regular kick and you know, kids, they don't stay still on the train. I confronted him about it and he got all upset," the mother, Kayla McCutchen, told the New York Post. Cops state Hodge then reached into his bag, pulled out an expandable baton, and snapped, "Do you want to get hurt?" McCutchen said she was scared at first until a few people jumped on Hodge, wrestled the baton from him, and held him till the cops arrived at the 86th Street station.
"When the argument first started, one passenger saw everything and tried to intervene and tell us to stop arguing, but once the guy pulled out the weapon, everybody pretty much jumped on him and tried to wrestle the weapon out of his hand. They kept holding him until the cops came," she explained. Talking about the weapon, she said, "It was an extended nightstick. So the minute he flung his hand, it opened up."
When asked if the man swung the baton at her, she denied it and said, "No, he didn't get the chance to." She added, "It was kind of scary... because you only see it on the news." Talking about how her son felt, McCutchen said, "He was scared. He definitely just wanted to leave the situation. He is good now. As long as he's not hurt is all that matters to me." The police has charged Hodge with acting in a manner injurious to a child, menacing, and criminal possession of a weapon in the underground incident.
This comes just a day after NYC Mayor Eric Adams' plan to improve safety aboard the city's subways went into effect. Adams announced his plans after hundreds of random attacks on commuters were reported. A day before this incident, a Brooklyn man was threatened with a hatchet on the subway, and at least seven straphangers were targeted in a series of attacks over the week.