A Huntington Station man was sentenced Monday to 90 days in jail after admitting to assaulting a Long Island Rail Road conductor during a dispute over a train ticket earlier this year, Nassau County prosecutors said.
Anthony Dean, 40, pleaded guilty on April 9 to second-degree assault, a felony charge stemming from the March 8 incident aboard a Port Jefferson Branch train, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said the attack happened around 11:20 p.m. as the train was heading toward Huntington Station. An LIRR conductor approached Dean to collect his ticket when the encounter turned violent.
Authorities said Dean stood up and punched the conductor in the left cheek, leaving the victim with pain, redness, and swelling to his face.
After the assault, Dean exited the train at the Carle Place station and attempted to walk away along the platform, prosecutors said.
An off-duty police officer who was riding the train at the time intervened after being alerted by the conductor and detained Dean until officers with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department arrived.
Dean was arrested that night by MTA Police.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said the case highlights growing concerns about violence against transit workers.
“The defendant chose to lash out at an LIRR conductor, who was simply doing his job, all because he did not want to pay for a train ticket,” Donnelly said in a statement. “Violence against MTA workers will not be tolerated.”
As part of his sentence, Dean received 90 days in jail followed by five years of probation. A stay-away order of protection was also issued.
Prosecutors had requested a harsher sentence of six months in jail along with probation and the order of protection.
Photo: Awesomerailfanning, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
