Dec. 31 (UPI) — A 45-year-old man is in critical but stable condition after a suspect shoved him onto the New York City southbound 1 subway tracks and was caught afterward in Manhattan.
Video footage shows the victim standing on the subway platform while apparently looking at his cellphone when the suspect wearing a black winter coat, head covering and mask walked behind the man from left to right before returning seconds later to shove him into the path of an oncoming train.
The incident occurred at 1:30 p.m. EST at the 18th Street station in Manhattan, and officials for the New York Police Department said it appeared to be a random attack.
The suspect fled but was caught and is in custody. He has not been charged with a crime, so the NYPD has not released the suspect’s name.
The unidentified victim was trapped beneath an incoming train and was rescued by first responders, who took him to Bellevue Hospital to treat a head injury, the New York Post reported.
Several witnesses saw the attack, including two males who jumped the turnstiles just before the attack occurred and fled after witnessing it.
The NYPD is investigating whether the two fare-jumpers were involved or just bystanders, the Daily News reported.
Police caught the 23-year-old suspect at street level near Columbus Circle hours after the attack.
Although his name is yet to be released, the N.Y. Post reported the suspect has had several police encounters.
The suspect allegedly assaulted a police officer in June 2019 on Flushing Avenue after the officer noticed the suspect acting in a disorderly manner.
The suspect has an case pending in Brooklyn in which he is accused of assault, weapons possession and harassment in an incident that occurred on Oct. 12.
The suspect also was released with no bail in another case in 2020, but the Post could not determine the charges in that matter.
The subway incident is one of several recent events that has raised concerns about safety on the New York City subway system in the wake of the trial of Daniel Penny.
Penny was charged for murder after helping others to restrain Jordan Neely after Neely threatened several passengers with great bodily harm and death while acting in an aggressive manner.
More recently, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala is accused to setting fire to a sleeping subway passenger’s blanket and watching her burn to death while she was inside a subway car on Dec. 22.
Two slashing incidents also were reported on Sunday.
The violence on New York’s public transit system spurred New York Mayor Eric Adams to place an additional 1,000 police officers to patrol the transit system.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has called up the National Guard to deploy more than 1,000 Guardsmen in the city’s transit system.