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Panhandler Hits Woman With Broom and Dustpan on C Train, Cops Say

By Irene Plagianos | October 10, 2013 6:31am
 A panhandler was arrested for hitting a woman with a broom and dustpan on the C Train on Oct. 4, 2013, police said.
A panhandler was arrested for hitting a woman with a broom and dustpan on the C Train on Oct. 4, 2013, police said.
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LOWER MANHATTAN — A panhandler angry that a woman ignored his pleas for money smacked her with a broom and dustpan he was carrying, police said.

Gary Stevenson, 52, was asking for change on a southbound C train near the Canal Street stop about 8 p.m. Friday when he came across a woman seated on the train, cops said.

The 47-year-old woman told officers Stevenson walked past her and she simply ignored his requests for cash — but a moment later, he whacked her across the legs with a hard plastic broom, with dustpan attached, cops said.

The painful blow caused the woman's right leg to swell up, according to police reports.

Stevenson was arrested shortly after the incident, and he was charged with second-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, according to court documents.

He was ordered held on $15,000 bail and is due back in court on Oct. 10, court documents show.

If convicted, Stevenson faces up to seven years in prison for the top charge, second-degree assault.

Prosecutors said Stevenson was previously convicted of a violent crime, but details about his past conviction were not immediately available.

Calls to Stevenson's lawyer were not immediately returned.