Police are asking the public's help in identifying a man who was caught on camera shoving human feces into a woman's face before exiting the New York City subway station.
On the evening of February 21, police responded to reports of an attack on the southbound platform of the East 241 subway station. According to police, the 43-year-old woman was sitting on a bench when an unidentified male attacked her with human feces.
This attack occurred just days before another woman was struck in the head with a hammer and pushed down the stairs during a violent robbery inside an NYC subway station. The 57-year-old woman was attacked shortly before midnight at the Queens Plaza station in Long Island City, according to police.
NYPD told Newsweek that as of February 20, authorities have issued more than 11,984 summonses to individuals who violated one or more of the New York City Transit System's rules.
In the first two months of this year, NYPD arrested 1,061 individuals compared to 689 in the entirety of last year. There has been an increase in all crime in the subway compared to 2021, according to data provided by the NYPD.
The data shows that there have been 88 robberies—compared to 47 in 2021, and 153 grand larcenies compared to 74 the previous year. Police have also recorded 73 felony assaults as of February 20.
In September 2021, officials installed approximately 2,000 security cameras in 472 stations around New York City in an attempt to combat the spike in crime. But the numbers show that the cameras are not stopping crimes from occurring.
Surveillance footage from inside the station on Monday showed a male wearing a baseball cap and a backpack approaching the woman sitting on a bench. Once in front of her, the suspect opened a black plastic bag he was holding in his hand.
Without saying a word, the suspect looked toward the subway car before quickly turning around and shoving the contents of the bag in her face and around the back of her head. He quickly fled the station in an unknown direction and police are unsure of his whereabouts.
Anyone with any information regarding the incident or suspect is asked to call NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782)
Individuals can also submit tips online by visiting the CrimeStoppers website, https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
