The on-duty subway conductor who was allegedly attacked by an off duty cop at the East Tremont Avenue station in the Bronx last week has spoken out for the first time. The 28-year-old female MTA worker, who didn't want her name used, told the News that Officer Mirjan Lolja was irate about having to wait 20 minutes for a train and attacked her: "I felt like it lasted forever," she said. "I was really scared for my life."
The conductor, who had been on the platform around 2:30 a.m. on December 23rd to let passengers know about service changes, described the attack in detail: "Before I turned around, this guy was on my back and I’m on the floor," she said. "I was on my knees on the floor. It just happened so fast. I’m trying to get this guy off me and he’s not letting up. He’s choking me and pulling my hair." After choking her, Lolja then fled the scene, as was captured on this surveillance video.
The conductor, a rookie who has been on the job about 10 months, was treated for head, neck and back injuries at a hospital; she adds that she has pain in her knees, back and scalp from the assault. "I’m so overwhelmed," she said. "Honestly, I just finished crying. I just want to go back to life as normal. Why did he mess with us like that? Why didn’t he leave us alone? Why?"
Lolja's lawyer claims the conductor was the aggressor and grabbed his phone when he tried to take her photograph; he hasn't been charged with anything yet after turning himself in earlier this week. "The police officer who perpetrated this crime should have already been arrested," said John Samuelsen, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, in a statement.
Most of all, the conductor can't believe she was attacked by a cop: "I thought people were lying," she added. "I thought there’s no way it could be a police officer acting like that. I still can’t process it."
