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JUNE 2, 2019, BROOKLYN WEEKLY
Police nab Clinton Hill subway saboteur
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