An aspiring model who recently moved from her native Thailand to pursue her dreams in the Big Apple said she is 'lucky to be alive...
An aspiring model who recently moved from her native Thailand to pursue her dreams in the Big Apple said she is 'lucky to be alive' after a brutal beating in the subway by a deranged mugger last month.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Bew Jirajariyawetch, 23, said the horrific 4 am attack after she was coming home from a concert is still a blur when she was grabbed from behind in a chokehold, thrown to the ground, punched in the face and robbed of her purse at the 34th Street Herald Square station on November 22.
In the shocking assault caught on video that captured the out-of-control crime plaguing the city, the mugger - who police have yet to identify - can be seen dragging Jirajariyawetch along the northbound platform servicing the D, F, N and Q lines before throwing her to the ground.
New York City saw a surge in violent assaults on the subway when she was attacked, with a 45 percent increase in the past 28 days as compared to last year. That week, a 141 percent increase was reported for transit crime.
Anti-Asian violence has also plagued the city this year, with 127 attacks against Asians - a nearly five-fold increase from the 28 attacks in 2020.
'There were so many police officers at the subway after the attack but no one was there before. I don’t want anyone else to go through this or be hurt by this person. This can not keep happening.'
A photo taken by the model shortly after the assault shows her face bruised and swollen, with dried blood near her nose and a burst blood vessel in her left eye.
Bew Jirajariyawetch, 23, reveals her battered face after she was brutally mugged while she waited for the subway at the 34th Street Herald Square subway platform at 4am
Jirajariyawetch, an aspiring model, moved to New York City from Thailand over the summer
The mugger holds her down as he feels about her body, then punches her in the head four times and grabs her purse before briskly walking away
New York City Crime Stoppers have released a short clip of the unidentified mugger jumping a subway turnstile before the attack, and are offering a reward of $3,500 for information that leads to his arrest
Jirajariyawetch, who moved from Thailand this summer to study at the Global ESL Academy, told DailyMail.com that she was returning to her home in Queens after she went to see Daboyway, a Thai-American rapper, in concert at S.O.B.'s in the West Village when the attack took place.
In the harrowing video, the mugger holds her down as he punches her in the head four times, sexually assaults her and snatches her purse, before briskly walking away.
Jirajariyawetch can be seen sitting up, dazed, and getting to her feet before the surveillance video cuts off.
She said he took all the money she had on her and her personal identification, but left her iPhone.
New York City Crime Stoppers released a short clip of the cold-hearted thief jumping a subway turnstile before the attack, and are offering a reward of $3,500 for information that leads to his arrest.
'There are so many cameras in the subway station to track but they don't seem to be working,' Jirajariyawetch told DailyMail.com.
Jirajariyawetch, who lives in Queens, is enrolled at the Global ESL Academy
She moved to NYC to pursue a modeling career in the fashion industry
Jirajariyawetch said she finally built up the courage this week to return to the subway line where she was attacked
This week, Jirajariyawetch said she finally built up the courage to return to the subway line where she was attacked as she refuses to give up on a modeling career.
Moving to the New York City was a 'natural decision' for her, according to her attorney Eric Parnes.
'Bew does not want this negative experience to discourage her thoughts on New York,' Parnes told DailyMail.com.
'Bew has been unquestionably traumatized. She has been struggling with a lack of appetite and persistent nightmares,' he said.
'Living in a foreign country without family is already a difficult situation let alone coping with such an unwarranted act of violence. However, Bew finds strength in speaking out about this and continues to push forward with her aspirations.'
He shared her story to 'put pressure on the NYPD,' 'get more tips leading to an arrest' and to 'put more focus on this disturbing trend of violence.'
Akeem Loney is pictured left with his coach Reed Fox who described him as 'one of the best street soccer players I've ever seen.' He was fatally stabbed in the neck at Penn Station the day before Jirajariyawetch was brutalized
The day before Jirajariyawetch was robbed, soccer player Akeem Loney, 32, was fatally stabbed in the neck at Penn Station at around 12.15am. Loney, who was homeless, had been lying down or napping on one of the subway seats when was attacked.
Police are also hunting for a man who allegedly threatened to kill a woman on the subway with two wooden spikes after making 'anti-white statements' late last month.
The suspect wielded the large shivs at a 46-year-old woman near the 59th Street subway station in Manhattan, cops said.
The man, who has an ankh hieroglyphic symbol on his face, was traveling on the subway at 7.20am on the 4 train on November 29.
A man was bloodied following a brutal attack on a Midtown subway platform on December 3
A thug who allegedly threatened to kill a woman on the New York subway with two wooden spikes late last month after making 'anti-white statements' is being hunted by police
Earlier this month, a man was left bloodied after a brutal attack on the northbound platform of the 49th Street station, which serves the city's N and R trains.
The victim suffered obvious injuries to his head and was pictured sitting on the train station floor with bandages covering his eyes and forehead.
His attacker, a bald man wearing jeans, black boots and a black trench coat, appeared to smirk at the camera as he was guided in to the back of the police cruiser.
Mayor Bill de Blasio weighed in on the rise in subway crime as the city swells with holiday travelers.
'These individual incidents are very troubling,' the lame-duck mayor said.
'I understand they do give people pause, and our job has to be, constantly, to get out there, show presence, reassure people through action.'
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