Woman Pushed Onto Subway Tracks In Times Square During Attempted Robbery, Suspect Arrested
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Good Samaritans stepped in to help Friday after a woman was pushed onto the subway tracks in Times Square during an attempted robbery.
CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas spoke to MTA officials, who described a very close call for the victim.
The train operator was able to stop the train just as they were entering the station, allowing good Samaritans to jump into action.
The injured and distraught victim is described as being in her 60s.
According to authorities, around 1:45 p.m. on the northbound R train platform, a man allegedly tried to grab the victim's purse and then pushed her onto the tracks.
Police say good Samaritans not only helped the victim, but others grabbed the suspect until officers arrived.
The suspect is a man in his 40s who is described as being homeless, renewing the MTA's calls for more help in the subways.
It comes months after the NYPD surged thousands of officers into the transit system in an effort to deter crime.
"We're calling on the NYPD to maybe adjust their deployment so that riders feel protected in the places where they feel vulnerable. That means on the platforms, on the trains, on the trains like they were when I was a kid, and elsewhere in the system where riders feel vulnerable and where a lot of people congregate," said MTA acting chair and CEO Janno Lieber.
The MTA plans to hire even more of its own officers. The agency is also asking the city for more mental health professionals deployed to targeted locations.
Lieber said he had spoken to Gov. Kathy Hochul and mayor-elect Eric Adams and both have pledged to make subway safety a top issue.
All this comes as Lieber also says that day-to-day crime is down in the system. Still, this is the third time someone has been pushed onto the tracks in the last week alone.
The victim was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The suspect, identified as Carlos Ortiz, 33, is in police custody.
