The victim was pushed onto the path of an oncoming train, but with the help of others, was able to get off the tracks and back onto the platform before the train hit him. The suspect has since been arrested. NBC New York’s Anjali Hemphill reports.
The suspect who was seen on camera moments before allegedly shoving a man onto the tracks of a Bronx subway station in an unprovoked attack has been arrested, police said.
Miguel Ramirez was led out from the police stationhouse in handcuffs and put into the back of a police car Tuesday evening. Charges against the 35-year-old are still pending.
Ramirez didn't say a word when asked by reporters why he allegedly pushed 26-year-old German Sabio in front of an oncoming train on Saturday. Video showed Sabio walking on the platform of the East 149th Street and South Boulevard station around 11:50 a.m. when he was approached from behind, police said.
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That video, released the day after the attack, showed the moment Ramirez allegedly came up to Sabio before pushing him down onto the track bed immediately before the arrival of a 6 train.
"I think he was looking for someone to do it, and I wasn’t aware of what was going on around me, and that’s why he pushed me on the tracks," said Sabio.
Ramirez took off, police said, as witnesses and good Samaritans rushed to help Sabio back up to the platform. Police said he had injuries to his legs and required transport to a nearby hospital.
"Wow, all I can say to be honest is to give thanks to God, so that way this guy cannot do it to somebody else," Sabio said after learning of Ramirez's arrest. "I have to take the train when I go to work and I still remember it in my memory, that feeling, that sensation. So knowing this guy go arrested, I feel a little more easy."
While still nervous to ride the subway after his harrowing ordeal, Sabio said he hopes his story helps others avoid what happened to him.
"Just to tell the people to be careful at the train station and be aware around them," he said.
Ramirez's arrest came on the same day a 50-year-old Queens man was arrested in the subway death of a 48-year-old from the same borough who fell to the tracks and was hit by an oncoming train as they fought about a phone, police sources and officials said.
Carlos Garcia faces a single charge of manslaughter in the case of Heriberto Quintana, who died after the two started arguing on the Roosevelt Avenue-Jackson Heights platform during Monday's evening commute, cops said.
According to police sources, the two men bumped into each other on the platform just before 6 p.m. and Garcia's phone ended up falling to the tracks. He allegedly ordered Quintana to get it and Quintana refused.
The two started fighting and Quintana ended up on the tracks as the train pulled into the station, police said. He was taken to a hospital, where the father of three was pronounced dead.
Quintana's death marked the ninth in the subway system in 2022 and the fifth in the past two weeks. On Friday, a teen was shot and killed on a moving train in Far Rockaway. Three people have died since Sept. 30 in stabbings, two in subway attacks and a third on a city bus.
On Tuesday, the MTA sought to reassure riders with a new safety measure, as they're asking NYPD officers to position themselves in the middle of a platform. That way, when conductors see them, they will announce to riders that officers are nearby.
"The cell phone that fell into a pit. My God — please de-escalate situations. We can get your phones, your personal affects, we do it all the time," said NYC Transit President Richard Davey.
