Career criminal accused of brutal hammer attack on NYC employee arrested by NYPD

New York City police announced that on Sunday law enforcement arrested the subway attack suspect who used a hammer to beat and rob a public health expert last Thursday in a high-profile case that was captured on film.

57-year-old William Blount now faces attempted murder charges, as well as robbery and assault charges, over his alleged encounter with city employee Nina Rothschild last week.

Local reporting says that Blount has a "criminal history of kidnappings, robberies and drug crimes in New York City and South Carolina dating to the early 1980s."

The way that ABC 7 NY describes the initial incident caught on camera shows a hooded man attacking Rothschild with a hammer. She had been hospitalized after being "hit as many as 13 times," after the suspect ambushed her from behind.

Daily Mail describes how the attack left Rothschild, a scientist who works for the city's Department of Health, with a fractured skull. She was on her way home from work, after a shift at the NYC Health Department.

Blount then allegedly stole the victim's purse, which contained "two cellphones, debit cards, credit cards and an unknown amount of money," per the New York Post's description of the crime.

The victim's brother, Gerson Rothschild, spoke more with the news outlet about her situation. He described his sister as someone who hoped her attacker would get the help they needed, behind bars.

"Happily, Nina is indeed getting stronger by the day. Intellectually she is clear on events from 30 years ago and from 3 days ago and I attribute that to the excellent care of the trauma team at NYP-Weill Cornell who knew to relieve the increased intracranial pressure immediately upon her arrival at the hospital," he explained.

Rothschild's case isn't the first to recently happen in the New York subway. It was reported Monday that a 43-year-old-woman was attacked by a suspect last week, and the assailant wielded a bag of feces. Within the first few weeks of the tenure of New York City's newest leader, Mayor Adams has expressed his personal concerns about riding the subway system, given the various attacks that have happened.

That incident reportedly happened the same day that Adams vowed to clean up the crime and homelessness within New York City's subway system.