Police nab Clinton Hill subway saboteur
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COURIER L 16 IFE, MAY 31–JUNE 6, 2019 M BR B G
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BY KEVIN DUGGAN
He’s off the rails!
Police arrested a Clinton
Hill man who they believe
pulled the emergency brakes
on at least two subway trains
over the last two weeks, in the
early hours of May 24.
Cops nabbed 23-year-old
Isaiah Thompson at his Gates
Avenue home between Downing
Street and Grand Avenue
at 12:25 a.m. for allegedly pulling
the emergency breaks in
Manhattan on a northbound
B-train May 16 and a northbound
2 train on May 21, according
to the authorities.
During his earlier strike,
the suspect allegedly exposed
himself to passengers on the
platform while surfi ng outside
the back of the train, police
said.
Cops charged him with
public lewdness for that incident,
along with reckless
endangerment and criminal
trespass for both alleged transit
sabotages.
The police got a hold of
Thompson after a tip but it is
unknown whether he is responsible
for any more similar
incidents across the transit
network, according to a
spokesman.
“Unknown at this time how
many incidents he may be responsible
for,” the spokesman
said.
The two commute disruptions
are part of a larger pattern
where one or more scoundrels
have for years been
pulling emergency breaks on
trains, disrupting the commute
of thousands, transit honchos
said at a recent meeting.
“There does seem to be a
pattern emerging and it has
happened before,” New York
City Transit president Andy
Byford said at the Metropolitan
Transportation Agency’s
board meeting on May 22.
The malefactors gain access
to the rear cab of subways
with a key and they operate
the emergency break
before making a run for it on
the tracks and sometimes they
continue to do their evil deeds
on another train, according to
Byford, who condemned the
acts and said the agency would
fi nd the perpetrators.
“It’s stupid, it’s dangerous,
and it’s selfi sh, and we attempt
to nail them,” the transit
leader said.
The majority of these incidents
have occurred on the 2
and 5 lines, according to Byford,
but he and MTA Chair
Pat Foye were wary of going
into more detail in order to
avoid encouraging copycats.
“We were reluctant to discuss
this issue publicly given
the potential for copycats,”
Foye said.
The suspect primarily targets
the trains between the
Flatbush Avenue terminus in
Flatbush and Manhattan, the
site Jalopnik reports .
Transit bigwigs said both
agencies were working closely
with the city’s Police Department
and asking for the
public’s help in catching the
perpetrators, which they estimate
has disrupted thousands
of commutes and put the lives
of transit workers at risk.
“We want to enlist the public’s
help, our customers’ help,
in catching these potential
criminals who are impacting
the lives of thousands of
our customers and endangering
the lives of New York City
Transit men and women who
are working on the subways,
and ask them to report any
suspicious activities they see,”
Foye said.
BUSTED: Police arrested Clinton Hill resident Isaiah Thompson on May 24
for pulling the emergency brakes on two subway trains in Manhattan on
May 16 and 21. NYPD
/PCRICHARD.COM