Attacker sprays seven with chemical

NEW YORK — A woman attacked seven people with a substance like pepper spray in four places in Harlem and the Upper West Side on Friday, including two subway stations, in a series of attacks that were being investigated as possible hate crimes, police said.

Detective George Tsourovakas, a police spokesman, said the woman was black and the seven victims were white. He declined to elaborate on the hate crime investigation.

As of Saturday afternoon, police were still searching for the woman, who had not been identified or arrested.

The attacks occurred between 11:50 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday, Tsourovakas said.

He said the first victim, a man, was on a platform at the 125th and Lenox subway station. The woman walked up to him and sprayed him in the face without either of them exchanging words, he said.

The detective said the woman then left the station and pepper-sprayed a 47-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman as they were walking. She then sprayed another man and a 38-year-old woman.

A 23-year-old woman reported being sprayed near 125th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, Tsourovakas said. A 30-year-old woman then reported being sprayed on the platform at the 96th and Broadway subway station, he said.

None of the victims had serious injuries, he said.