A man in Melbourne, Australia, was stabbed in the leg after taking a seat on a busy train carriage and found more than a dozen needles embedded in it.
Anthony Artusa said he boarded a Melbourne Loop train around 8 a.m. on Jan. 8 and was sitting down on a vacant seat when he was pierced in the back of his leg by multiple sewing needles.
The incident occurred early Jan. 7 on the Sunbury-Watergardens line on an inbound train to Flinders Street. About 20 needles had been embedded in the seat, sharp end up.
Victoria Police Inspector Andrew Gustke told The Epoch Times police are confident they will find the perpetrator, who faces serious charges with fines and possible jail time.
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Gustke said the matter has become a criminal investigation that is being treated “very seriously.”
Police had found six more needles when they checked the carriage and the seat.
CCTV footage reviewed by police showed that another man had boarded the train between 6 and 7 a.m. on Jan. 8 and then “stood up very quickly to move to another seat,” Inspector Gustke said. That male had boarded the train at Watergarden train station.
“That is an unreported incident, so we would ask if that person would come forward to us, we would really like to hear from him.”
Police are also seeking a female passenger who had witnessed Artusa being hurt by the needles because she was sitting next to him.
“She may have gotten on at Watergardens on an inbound train to Flinders Street ... we would appeal for her to come forward with any information,” he said, adding that the woman can call Crimestoppers if she would like to remain anonymous.
They noted that the train was busy at the time. “The train was crowded at the time, it was peak hour [at 8 a.m.],” he said.
In 2018, a needle scare gripped the nation when needles were first reported to have been found in strawberries on Sept. 9.
Police traced the incident to the Berrylicious/Berry Obsession farm in southeast Queensland, which supplied Woolworths and other stores.