Police in New York City say a woman is in critical condition after being “forcibly pushed” into a moving subway train and falling onto the rails.
On Wednesday, Michael Kaplan, New York’s Chief of Transit, reported a “horrific assault” at a subway station at 53rd Street in midtown Manhattan.
Kaplan said the victim was pushed as she stood on the platform as the train pulled away from the station.
Good Samaritans lifted the victim back up onto the platform and phoned 911.
After suffering a head injury, she was sent to a nearby hospital and underwent surgery. The thirty-year-old woman is “fighting for her life” and is in serious condition.
Sabir Jones, 39, was arrested on Thursday afternoon at Newark Penn Station and charged with assault, according to police.
After being mentally evaluated at a local hospital, police claimed they would transport him back to New York City.
The events leading up to the attack remain a mystery. Police are still interviewing potential witnesses.
Police say that Jones walked out of the turnstiles on West 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue after the attack.
After hearing that a woman had been thrown over the tracks, a second victim came forward to police and said that he, too, had been hit in the face by Jones at the same subway station.
Due to his history of refusing assistance from outreach workers, who have documented his mental illness and drug usage, Jones is a homeless man “known to the department.”
In November 2021, Jones’s family reported him missing in Newark. Police said Jones admitted to using K2, psychiatric medication, and living on the streets for four years.
In December 2022, police in Brooklyn arrested Jones on charges of resisting arrest after allegedly riding between subway carriages, refusing to leave the station, and fighting with cops. As an emotionally troubled individual, he has been in contact with law enforcement once before.
According to authorities, the woman was likely attacked on her way to or from work.
