The man suspected of pushing a woman into a moving subway train in Manhattan was arrested in Newark and hospitalized, according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case.
The suspect, whom police officials have identified as Sabir Jones, 39, was picked up on Thursday near the PATH train stop at Newark Penn Station after a citizen recognized him, one of the officials said.
New York subway camera footage helped identify Mr. Jones as the attacker who had pushed the woman, critically injuring her as she commuted to work just after noon, Police Department officials said Wednesday.
Michael Kemper, the Police Department’s chief of transit, described Mr. Jones as an emotionally disturbed homeless man “known to the department” through a previous arrest and by his constant presence in subway stations.
On Wednesday, the woman was on the platform of the Fifth Avenue-53rd Street station waiting for an E train. Mr. Jones approached and shoved her against a departing train, sending her onto the subway tracks after her head hit a car, Chief Kemper said. Other passengers helped her back onto the platform and called 911. She was in critical condition on Wednesday.
The unprovoked attack has unnerved a city deeply reliant on the subway as its lifeline. High-profile attacks have fed fears over the safety of a system trying to win back ridership that plunged during the coronavirus pandemic.