By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HUDSON SQUARE — A young woman landed in the hospital with eye injuries after a road-rage attack outside the Holland Tunnel entrance this week, police said.
The 21-year-old victim, a New Jersey resident, was driving south on Varick Street about 6:20 p.m. Jan. 19 when a black Ford 500 tried to cut in front of her, police said.
The woman, who was driving a black GMC Envoy, said she did not initially see the Ford, but her husband heard something hit the outside of their car, so she stopped and rolled down her window.
At the same moment, the Ford drew level with her, and the driver threw a handful of coins at her face, striking her right eye, police said.
The victim, who asked that her name not be used, said the man also yelled abusive language at her.
The man then forced his car past hers, scraping the front of it, and drove toward the tunnel, police and the victim said.
The victim said her vision was blurred but she managed to flag down one of the police officers outside the tunnel near Broome Street. Police pulled over the Ford just before it entered the tunnel, she said.
Police arrested Andrew Steidell, 25, on felony assault charges, according to the incident report. However, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said Steidell was given a desk appearance ticket for a misdemeanor.
Steidell could not immediately be reached for comment.
The victim, who was on her way home from visiting her mother in Brooklyn, was taken to New York Downtown Hospital, where doctors told her she had an abrasion on the white part of her eye but that she had not suffered permanent damage. Her eye is still red and swollen, she told DNAinfo Friday.
"It still hurts whenever I blink," she said. "It’s hard to sleep because it hurts more when it’s closed."
The woman, who is a student, said she was especially upset that her 1-year-old daughter witnessed the attack and heard the abuse from the backseat.
"It was terrible," she said. "It was a really bad night."
