Banker Arrested, Suspended After Allegedly Punching Black Transit Worker

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A Manhattan investment banker has been suspended from his firm following his arrest over the alleged assault of a Black transit worker at a Brooklyn subway station.

According to the New York Post, 53-year-old Jean-Francois Coste was suspended by investment firm Tocqueville Asset Management, where he's worked for nearly 15 years, after allegedly throwing multiple punches at transit employee Tanya McCray in a Coney Island station on Friday (December 16).

“Mr. Coste has been suspended from the firm effective immediately,” the company said in a statement on Sunday (December 18). “Tocqueville Asset Management is completely intolerant of violent behavior and, pending further investigation, will take whatever action is necessary.”

The incident unfolded just after midnight Friday when a drunken Coste tried to enter an employees-only area of the station, according to police. When McCray refused to let him in the area, the investment banker allegedly punched her in the face twice.

“It’s not a public area,” a spokesman for Local 100 of the Transit Worker’s Union said. “He was apparently drunk. She pushed the door so it clicks and locks, and he punched her in the face at least twice.”

The employee fought back, hitting her attacker with a lunch bag, which left him scratches and a black eye, police said. Coste attempted to flee the scene, according to law enforcement, but he was eventually cornered by other transit workers and taken into custody.

He was released without bail but faces charges of assault, harassment, and menacing. Coste is due back in court on March 1.

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