Woman followed by man in elf suit carrying ice pick
Shortly after ringing in the new year, a woman was followed into a Manhattan subway by a man dressed as an elf. He was allegedly carrying an ice pick, according to WPIX.
The 29-year-old woman, who asked not to be identified, said she left a midtown movie theater just before midnight on Dec. 31, 2016, when she spotted a man wearing a Christmas tree skirt around his neck.
According to WPIX, he was smoking a cigarette by a turnstile in the subway station as he watched her closely.
The victim told the station that she was walking along the platform, which was crowded since the clock had just struck midnight to end the New Year festivities in nearby Times Square, when the man began following her.
"To see if he was truly following me, I started weaving in and out of people on the platform and noticed he was still right behind me," she told WPIX.
She quickly noticed that the man was holding an ice pick, and began asking others near her for help.
"I looked for anyone who could protect me," she told WPIX. "I tapped a guy in his mid 30s and told him I was being followed by a man with an ice pick, and he brushed me off."
The victim then boarded the train, entering three cars ahead of where the man in the elf costume entered.
Soon enough, though, he made his way toward her car.
The woman, who was still looking for help, approached a couple. They let her sit between them and pretend like she knew them as the male companion pulled out pepper spray, WPIX reports.
The men dressed like an elf sat next to the trio, and the victim told WPIX that a "homeless guy" offered him a mint.
The couple and the victim exited the train shortly after while the man remained on board.
"I thank (that couple) from the bottom of my heart. I do not know what would have happened if no one helped me," she told WPIX.
The NYPD took a report after the woman said she had to walk to the transit police hub the next day because an Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee ignored her complains.
She added that she had to wait on hold with 911 for 20 minutes, and gave up after she saw no signs of police.
The MTA told WPIX they will investigate the incident.
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