A train operator was beaten by an unhinged pipe-wielding man, and a straphanger was stabbed by a stranger in separate attacks on the subway system over the weekend, cops said Tuesday.
The most recent of the two incidents took place at the 168th Street-Washington Heights station around 11:45 p.m. Sunday when a passenger began arguing with the subway worker as he cleared a northbound C train that was taken out of service, police said.
The rider refused to get off the train and flashed a box cutter and a metal pipe at the 37-year-old male worker, who had ordered him to leave, cops said.
He then bashed the operator in the face with the pipe before running out of the station, onto the street, cops said.
The blow knocked out many of the worker’s teeth, police said.
He was taken to New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition.
Police released a photo of the suspect, who appears to be pushing a suitcase, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He remained on the lam Tuesday.
In a separate, apparently unprovoked attack on Saturday afternoon, a stranger sprayed a 50-year-old man in the face with an unknown substance and repeatedly stabbed him with a metal object on the northbound platform of the 28th Street No. 6 train station in Rose Hill, cops said.
The victim, who was stabbed in the face and head during the 5:30 p.m. attack, was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he received stitches.
Police were still looking for the suspect Tuesday.
He was shown in surveillance footage wearing a mustard-colored jacket with a wild print, a black balaclava and red sneakers.
