New York police are searching for a suspect who allegedly pushed a woman off a Manhattan subway platform.
On Wednesday, a 30-year-old woman was pushed onto a southbound subway train at the 53rd Street/Fifth Avenue platform around noon before heading to or from her workplace, an NYPD spokesperson told PEOPLE.
The subway station was shut down after the incident, causing delays.
The unidentified woman is in critical condition at Cornell Medical Center, Michael Kemper, chief of the police department’s transit division, announced at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
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“As the train was leaving the station, she was pushed, causing her to hit her head on the moving train. The train left the station, and then she fell to the floor, onto the tracks,” Kemper said. “Fortunately, there were eyewitnesses and good Samaritans who were on that platform and helped her up from the platform to the platform.”
Police have identified the suspect as Sabir Jones, 39, Kemper said. Jones fled the scene on foot, leaving the station at the turnpike at West 53rd Street and 5th Avenue, police said.
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During the press conference, Kemper would not offer information about Jones’ “priorities,” but said he is “known to us in the subway system.” MTA station video surveillance, witnesses and “good Samaritans” helped identify the suspect and helped the victim, Kemper said.
According to witnesses, the suspect was talking to himself before pushing the woman, AP reports The New York Times. The Bowery Residents Committee, which provides services to help the homeless in the subway, has seen Jones on multiple occasions as part of the committee’s practice, according to a person who obtained access to Jones’ social services records, reports times.
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During a press conference Wednesday, MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said the transit department has made “tremendous progress in fighting subway crime.”
According to NYPD data, there have been 15 incidents of people being pushed onto subway tracks so far in 2023, compared to 22 at this time last year, WABC reports.
“Crime is 9% lower than it was before the pandemic,” said Lieber. “But that is no consolation for the family of this young woman. That’s no consolation.” He shared the MTA’s condolences with the victim, her family and New Yorkers who are “trying to live their lives.”
“We will fight to ensure that the mental health system and the people who are responsible for assessing the condition of these people, who have a disproportionate impact on the public space,” he said of those struggling with mental illness. “We sympathize with them, but we need them to be treated and removed from public space.”
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“Subways are what make New York possible. It’s the only way we can live in this density. And part of the greatness of New York is all this face-to-face interaction,” Lieber said. “But when things like this happen, we have to double down and work even harder to protect New York.”
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education