A male suspect is in custody after he was allegedly caught on camera throwing a homeless woman onto the MTA subway tracks at a Bronx train station in New York City.
As reported by CBS New York and Reuters, the NYPD recommended Bronx resident Theodore Ellis, 30, be charged with assault and reckless endangerment, though the charges will be finalized once the case is handed off to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.
The incident happened at 4:40 p.m. at the Westchester Avenue/Jackson Avenue subway station on Sunday, where authorities claimed Ellis was caught on surveillance video grabbing a 52-year-old homeless woman and tossing her down so forcefully she tumbled onto the tracks.
It’s unclear if the pair knew each other, but according to the NYPD, Ellis said the two of them had engaged in an argument before the incident, though Ellis couldn’t recall when asked by police what the woman had said to upset him. He said he, “was not aware of his own strength” when he tossed her to the ground.
Sunday’s attack is the latest in a series of violent incidents to occur within New York City’s subway system this year. Most notably in April, a man deployed a smoke grenade and opened fire on commuters inside a Brooklyn subway car, injuring 10 people. According to a recent Sienna College Poll, the approval rating for New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams has plummeted in recent months as a result of the increase in crime, with just 29 percent of voters feeling Adams is doing an “excellent or good job.” Another poll from Sienna shows seven in ten New Yorkers feel less safe today than they did prior to the pandemic.
