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Man Who Shoved Woman Into Subway Is Notorious Subway Brake Bandit
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 25, 2019
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 25, 2019
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A man was captured on video violently shoving a woman into a stationary train in Brooklyn earlier this week, and serial subway brake bandit Isaiah Thompson has been arrested.
NYC Transit President Andy Byford commented on the incident Thursday in response to a police source telling the NY Post that Thompson was a suspect. “Enough is enough," Byford said in a statement. "This individual is a criminal and it’s unacceptable that he be allowed to continue to create mayhem on the subways, mayhem he admits is deliberate, that puts riders’ and MTA employees’ lives at risk. He should be banned from the system – period.”
A police spokesperson said the incident happened around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Dekalb Avenue B/Q station in Fort Greene. As you can see in the video below, the suspect pushed one person, and then the woman into the train car on the southbound platform. The suspect in the video was also spotted riding on the outside of the B train before the shoving incident.
Thompson was charged with assault, reckless endangerment, menacing and criminal trespassing. He has at least 18 transit-related arrests. He was last arrested in August for subway surfing, and charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing.
Thompson was previously charged with multiple counts of reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing for pulling the emergency brakes on at least two trains this past spring. At the time, one official initially dubbed him "a nutcase who is addicted to fucking with the trains," and the MTA said that they believed Thompson to be responsible for 747 delays and cancellations between March and May, simply because—as he reportedly told the officers who arrested him—he likes to "create mayhem" and "inconvenience people."
"He has mentioned in the past that he enjoys this and enjoys the thrill," Inspector Brian McGee, the commanding officer that handled his case, told reporters after Thompson’s arrest in May. “He likes to cause havoc.”
He was also arrested in 2017 for slashing a subway passenger.
Thompson also rides on the outside of trains, and has been arrested at least three times in 2017 and 2018 for subway surfing, receiving charges of reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct in those incidents. Straphanger Matt Beary captured video of Thompson outside of a C train in July 2018.
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andy byford
nypd
isaiah thompson
subway
subway shove
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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