73-year-old woman attacked on BART during morning commute

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A 73-year-old woman is recovering Wednesday after being beaten unconscious on a BART train Wednesday morning. The incident happened while the woman was riding between Coliseum and San Leandro stations at 4:30 a.m. Police arrested a 23-year-old man.

Evening commuters could hardly believe the details of beating that left an elderly BART rider unconscious. A man kicked the woman repeatedly, seemingly at random.

"It's kind of shocking that someone was attacked, but it's good that they caught him right away," said Oakland resident Dabina Brown.

"Regardless of whether it's at a BART station or just a woman walking down the street, that's just undignified behavior -- I mean uncivilized," said Casimiro Camacho of Oakland.

Officers arrested William Winchester, 23, at the Coliseum station. A criminal history search shows a similar case where a transit worker was battered in December.

"You can't just be specific with BART. It's everywhere you go," Camacho added. "I've been in Piedmont and I've seen people get attacked."

According to BART's latest report, crimes against persons are up, however; the overall number is still relatively low at two incidents per million trips.

BART confirms a second incident at the Coliseum Wednesday afternoon where a man assaulted the women, then the two left the view of station cameras.