The man is in custody after pushing a woman into the side of a subway train at the DeKalb Avenue stop, and he has a lengthy history of bad behavior on th subways with more than a dozen arrests. NBC New York’s Ray Villeda reports.
What to Know
- A man shoved a woman into a subway train in Brooklyn Wednesday, law enforcement sources with knowledge of the case tell News 4
- It happened at the DeKalb Avenue station shortly before 8 p.m.; the train wasn't moving at the time and the man jumped onto the tracks
- He fled into a tunnel after the shove; it wasn't clear if the two knew each other or had some sort of encounter before the push
The man seen on video shoving a woman into a subway train in Brooklyn Wednesday has been arrested, according to the NYPD.
Isaiah Thompson was being held by the Brooklyn Transit Robbery Squad, according to sources. Charges against him were not immediately clear.
Police believe Thompson is the same man allegedly responsible for a series of massively disruptive subway brake pullings earlier this year, law enforcement sources said.
The 23-year-old pushed the woman into a stationary train on the southbound track at the DeKalb Avenue station just before 8 p.m., then jumped onto the tracks and fled into the tunnel, the sources say.
It wasn't clear if Thompson knew the woman or the two had some sort of encounter prior to the shove.
Video posted to Twitter shows the man bouncing around on the platform, saying, "What? What?" before shoving the woman from the back. She flies right smack into the train, appearing to whack her head and then crumble on the floor.
Other passengers gasp. No details on the woman's condition were immediately available, and one law enforcement source said as of Thursday afternoon no complaint had yet been filed over the incident.
NYPD Transit Chief Edward Delatorre tweeted Thursday evening asking for help locating the victim or any witnesses to "several assaults" that occurred at the station, indicating there may have been more than one person hurt.
Local
In response to the shocking video, New York City Transit Chief Andy Byford called it "unacceptable" that the individual is allowed to keep using the subways.
“Enough is enough. This individual is a criminal and it’s unacceptable that he be allowed to continue to create mayhem on the subways, mayhem he admits is deliberate, that puts riders’ and MTA employees’ lives at risk. He should be banned from the system – period," Byford said in a statement.
Police said they were familiar with Thompson because of his extensive history of wreaking havoc in the subways, including his previous arrest for pulling the emergency brakes on trains earlier this year that disrupted the commutes for thousands of riders.
Thompson was most recently arrested for riding on the outside of a northbound 5 train from the Brooklyn Bridge stop to Union Square. He also has been accused of exposing himself to riders while subway surfing, among more than a dozen other prior arrests.
