Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Subway Robberies Up, Murders Down, CSI Actor Mugged
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 26, 2009
Modified Jan 26, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 26, 2009
Modified Jan 26, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
According to NYPD statistics, overall subway crime dropped by 3% in 2008, with murders down to two from four in 2007. There were an average 6.3 major felonies a day last year, compared with 7.4 in 2006 (there was an average of 17 in 1997). But robberies are on the rise: 823 occurred last year, up from 796 in '07. And there were three rapes reported last year, as opposed to just one in '07. Still, the NYPD's John Hall tells the Post crime is "so low that it's getting more and more difficult to keep it there," and attributes the stats to a crackdown on people walking between moving cars, which criminals do when trolling for victims.
Speaking of victims, CSI star Gerald McCullouch recently became one himself, when he made the breathtakingly stupid decision to take the A train home from JFK at 2 a.m. while working on his laptop and listening to "blaring" music on his headphones. The only thing missing was a neon sign above his head flashing "JUMP ME!", but that hardly proved necessary; soon one James Torres (6-foot-3, 240 pounds) took the bait, and allegedly tried to grab the laptop. McCullouch thwarted Torres with "a body shot to the chest," and described the ensuing fight to the Daily News:
I don’t know why I did that except that I box three or four days a week and had just been in the ring about eight hours before. Also, I didn’t want to give up my computer after working on my video all that time. Well, that’s when he pulled a kitchen knife out of a black plastic bag. This thing must have had a blade 10 inches long.
The other passengers started running out the door and into the next car. I still had my headphones on with music blaring. I yelled at the top of my lungs, "Get the [bleep] away from me!" That’s when the knife came down into my back. I don’t know whether he lost his grip or what, but the blade didn’t penetrate my leather jacket.
The conductor finally intervened and "about 10 cops jumped on the train" soon after, arresting Torres, who's charged with robbery, assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. After signing a bunch of autographs at the 33rd Precinct, police gave McCullouch a lift home.
Tagged
a train
actor
crime
csi
down
Gerald McCullouch
JFK
laptop
mugged
nyc
statistics
Stats
subway
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Early Addition: Who's giving out those chic little Nordic gummies this Halloween?
Because the status trick-or-treat candy has arrived, here are your early links: NYC Marathon-themed early voting sticker, New Jersey's Socialist Party on the rise, Herald Square billboard fight and more.
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 26, 2026 at 10:01 a.m. ET
In East Brooklyn, aging NYCHA homes get a $636M upgrade
The improvements to at the Reid & Park Rock developments come has the agency wrestles with a multibillion-dollar backlog in needed repairs.
By
Willow Higgins
News
In East Brooklyn, aging NYCHA homes get a $636M upgrade
The improvements to at the Reid & Park Rock developments come has the agency wrestles with a multibillion-dollar backlog in needed repairs.
By
Willow Higgins
What NYers can expect as open enrollment for health insurance begins
By
Caroline Lewis
Why New Yorkers should care about bats beyond spooky season
By
Catalina Gonella
Serbians forced to wait hours to vote at NYC consulate as Balkan nation holds election
By
Jill Webb
and
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .