Metro

Rider attacks disabled man and his service dog on subway

A therapy dog in training was sucker-punched by a subway rider who was angry that the pooch and his handler were blocking his path on the Bronx train, cops said.

Dr. William Ko, 30, was sitting on a No. 4 train near the 161st Street-Yankee Stadium Station at around 2 p.m. Tuesday when Herman Williams, 48, walked over and demanded he move his pit bull out of the way, according to police sources.

The Queens resident moved the dog, but Williams still wasn’t satisfied and he allegedly punched the dog square in the head.

Ko, who is a doctor doing his residency at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, had been training the canine to be a therapy dog.

The animals provide affection and comfort to those in need, such as war veterans or people in hospice.

When Ko stood up to defend the four-legged helper, Williams hit him so hard, it knocked out three of his teeth, sources said.

The conductor on the train heard the commotion and alerted a transit cop at a nearby platform.

Williams was arrested moments later and charged with assault, menacing harassment and possession of marijuana.

Sources said the Bronx DA’s Office may also tack on animal cruelty charges. Williams has 16 prior arrests and was awaiting arraignment on Wednesday night.

Even though Ko was training the dog, MTA rules state that riders must keep their animals in an enclosed container when they bring them on the subway.

Only service animals — which includes guide dogs, signal dogs or animals trained to perform a task that a disabled person can’t perform on their own — are allowed to ride on the train without a cage.

While therapy dogs are meant to help a person with their emotional needs, service pups are trained to provide assistance to an individual with a physical disability, according to Petfinder.com.

Since Ko’s pit bull is indeed a therapy dog, Ko was technically supposed to keep him in a container while he was in either a subway station or while riding on the train.

Williams’ alleged assault, while strange, is not the only case of someone being attacked because of their pet pooch.

A man laid out a Manhattan dog walker last year with a single punch after the dog handler criticized him for stepping over his Chihuahua.

Additional reporting by Daniel Prendergast