Man arrested for attacking woman with skateboard on MARTA

ATLANTA — A woman says a stranger attacked her with a skateboard on MARTA.

“She called me hysterical, 'Mom I just got attacked. Some man hit me over the head with a skateboard,'" the victim’s mom said.

Channel 2 Action News obtained video from MARTA train car 616. A 26-year-old woman, who did not want to be identified, was attacked by a man with a skateboard on March 23. %

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“A skateboard, Oh my God, that’s a deadly weapon," said the victim’s mom.

“Think about it. If you hit someone over the head with a two-by-four, a skateboard is bigger than a two-by-four," the woman said.

The woman's mom talked to Channel 2’s Liz Artz, but also asked to not be identified. She said her daughter was sore, bruised and scared after the assault.

“We're supposed to feel safe taking MARTA," the mother said.

A week later MARTA police arrested Laquai Barrett and charged him with aggravated assault and criminal trespass.

Artz learned from open records that Barrett had been banned from MARTA at the time of the attack for not paying.

In a statement released Monday MARTA said, "While such crimes are comparatively rare on MARTA, we regret that one of our customers was injured during this unfortunate incident. MARTA police worked quickly to make an arrest in this case and we are taking positive steps, such as installing surveillance cameras in every rail car, to make our transit system even safer and more secure."

“It’s scary. We like to believe everyone will be kind and nice. I think I’m naive about it. I assume more people are good than bad," the victim’s mom told Artz.

Barrett was also wanted on a failure to appear charge out of Fulton County at the time of the attack.

Cox Media Group