Cops have arrested a man wanted for masturbating on the subway after recognizing him from a cell phone photo snapped by his victim.
Two anti-crime officers assigned to Transit District 3 recognized Kevin Bishop, 34, from a wanted poster as he entered a subway station at 4:00 p.m. yesterday at 163rd Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in the Manhattan, police said. He was taken into custody without incident.
A 41-year-old woman took a cell phone picture of Bishop, who she says began masturbating in front of her on a northbound number 3 train. The man boarded the train at 42nd St. around 3:45 p.m. on Aug. 7 and he got off at Broadway and 96th St.
Bishop reportedly gave cops a wacky explination for why he was exposing himself.
"It just popped out!" Bishop told police after his arrest, according to the New York Post .
"Yes, that's me in the pictures," he confessed. "My private parts fell out. I looked down and it was out. It just popped out! I was trying to put it back."
Bishop said that he "deeply apologize[d] for what happened."
The savvy rider who snapped the photo claims that when she went into the 32nd precinct to report the crime, a uniformed officer told her it wasn't a police matter and to call the city's 311 non-emergency number.
The NYPD said internal affairs is looking into the matter.
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"Public lewdness" is a misdemeanor that results in hundreds of arrests each year -- a fact the cop apparently didn't know.
"It was a police matter and IAB is investigating why anyone would have been told otherwise," said police spokesman Paul Browne.
The incident comes as the police department has tried increase public awareness -- and conviction -- of sexual harassment on the subway.
Billboards and other subway car campaigns rolled out recently encourage victims to report the crime.
Bishop was charged with public lewdness, cops said. He's got quite a long rap sheet, including 64 arrests and 24 convictions on charges ranging from loitering to prostitution and drug possession, according to the Daily News.
