A Queens man suspected of stealing from passengers aboard the Long Island Rail Road was apprehended Monday by MTA Police and train crew members, the MTA said.
Thomas Gray, 20, is accused of stealing a purse on Feb. 19, 2011, an iPod on Jan. 6, and an iPhone on Jan. 26, the MTA said.
It was the Jan. 26 iPhone theft in which crew members came to recognize the suspect, said the MTA. Gray allegedly stole the phone from a passenger on board the 7:55 a.m. train from Port Washington to Penn Station. The victim was later able to recover it through an app that locates the missing phone.
When Gray again boarded a Penn Station-bound train on the Port Washington line Monday morning and refused to pay the fare, crew members recognized him and asked him to leave at the next station, according to the MTA.
The crew notified MTA Police ahead of the train's arrival at the next stop, Bayside. Police apprehended Gray without incident near the station, MTA said.
Gray is charged with two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, one count of petit larceny, three counts of criminal possession of stolen property and one count of theft of service.
Attorney information for Gray wasn't immediately known.
