Update: Teen Slaps 60-Year-Old on the J

We got a flood of comments after yesterday’s post about a teenage girl who slapped and spat on a 60-year-old on the J-Church train (see the original post). Leanne Maxwell, who  reposted the story on SFist, updated us on an account by an alleged witness. The story, as it turned out, was not as simple as the Noe Valley Voice letter portrayed.

First, the 60-year-old who was attacked was a man, not a woman. And according to SFist, the teen was later identified and apologized to the man.

But then the story takes a turn, the alleged witness told SFist:

Sadly, I was there. What seems to be missing from the account is that the man was yelling crude obscenities at the teen and pulled the her legs off of the seats which initally escalated the exchange.

Myself and the passengers around me couldn’t believe he would do that to a young woman, no matter how haughty she was. She responded so inappropriately that it just became a total mess.

Many people ignored what was happening, and looked at their iPhones and it was also very crowded. Some did try to minimally restrain the girl, but I think no one whole-heartedly jumped in to help him b/c he was initially so disrespectful to her. The story was just not as black and white as portrayed.

The worst part was seeing the young children going on a fieldtrip with their moms…ugh, the whole thing was ugly.

Thank you, SFist, for spreading the word of this terrible account. Check out more comments on SFist’s post.