UPDATE: Police say they've identified the teen suspect. NEW DETAILS HERE
Police are searching for a teenager who was caught on video knocking a man unconscious at a SEPTA station following an argument on a train.
The ordeal began Monday afternoon as a train moved towards the 15th Street SEPTA station in Center City. Surveillance video shows a 60-year-old man and a teenager arguing for 20 minutes, police said.
“We have a grown adult engaging in an argument with kids who were not a problem before he got on the train,” said SEPTA Police Chief Thomas Nestel. “So there are a lot of questions that have to be answered here.”
The video also shows several teen girls trying to calm the man and teen down as the argument continues. One girl is spotted in the video recording the confrontation on her cellphone.
The train arrived at the 15th Street Station around 3:15 p.m. Surveillance video then shows the teen punching the man in the face on the platform, knocking him out cold. The teen and witnesses then leave the scene.
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The man was taken to the hospital and treated for concussion-like symptoms. He remains hospitalized and police have not yet spoken to him.
Police say they are trying to track down the girls spotted on the train to ask them about what led to the assault.
“The puncher has some serious questions to answer,” Nestel said. “The other kids have no jeopardy of being arrested. They saw something that occurred and they can probably provide very good information and they can certainly provide very good video and audio of what occurred on the train.”
Police are also checking local high schools and social media and are asking anyone with information to come forward.
