Police: Armed Man Used Someone Else's Card, Tried To Escape In Subway In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- NYPD officers in Brooklyn this weekend apprehended an armed man who allegedly got into the subway with a disability MetroCard that did not belong to him – and then tried to escape, police said Sunday.
Around 9 p.m. Friday, officers were patrolling on the southbound side of the Livonia Avenue L Train platform in East New York, Brooklyn, where they saw a man enter a high-wheel turnstile using the disability MetroCard, police said.
Officers came up and asked to view the card, but he took out a regular MetroCard instead, police said. When officers asked him again, he took out the disability MetroCard, which had a name and photo that were not his, police said.
Officers tried to arrest the man, but he pushed an officer and ran toward the south end of the platform, police said.
The man then pulled a gun from his waistband and threw it, and jumped onto the tracks, police said.
The man suffered an injury to his right knee, and was arrested and taken off the tracks, police said. He was later treated and released from Brookdale University Medical Center, police said.
The suspect – Michael Latham, 32 – of Brooklyn, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, tampering with physical evidence, theft of service, obstructing governmental administration, and criminal trespass, police said.
The gun, a loaded .32-caliber Smith and Wesson, was recovered on the side of 454 Livonia Ave., police said.