A Queens woman has been charged with attempted murder over shocking footage of her allegedly shoving an innocent commuter into the side of an oncoming NYC subway train.
NYPD officers charged 29-year-old Anthonia Egegbara on Tuesday over surveillance footage said to show her get up from a bench and shove a bystander into the side of a moving 1 train at the Times Square subway station around 8am Monday.
The victim, a 42-year-old woman who has not been identified, was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition after sustaining facial injuries following what is believed to be an unprovoked attack.
Egegbara was arrested as transit crimes in New York City rose by 121.7 per cent for the week ending September 26, compared to the same period in 2020.
A total of 51 transit crimes were recorded for the period between September 20 and 26, compared to just 23 for the same period last year.
Transit crimes are also up 42.6 per cent for the last month, with 164 recorded so far this year, compared to 115 recorded last year.
The statistics are sure to make grim reading for New York City officials, who are pushing for workers to return to the office, and for tourists to return to the Big Apple, in a bid to boost its COVID-ravaged finances.
Egegbara, whose listed address is a hotel in Far Rockaway Queens that is used as a female shelter, instigated her alleged attack just hours before a man shot himself in the leg in that same subway station.
ABC 7 News reported that police might be sending Egegbara to a hospital to be mentally evaluated, with no motive yet given for the assault.
Police announced they have charged 29-year-old Anthonia Egegbara (pictured) with attempted murder
Police say on Monday, Egegbara (pictured) pushed a 42-year-old woman towards an oncoming train
Police arrested the 29-year-old after investigators released video of her allegedly shoving a woman into a moving train on Monday
Monday’s attack has yet to be included in those statistics, but threatens to derail New York City officials’ bid to lure workers and tourists back to the COVID-ravaged city.
The incident occurred at the Times Square station, where thousands of tourist commute daily to visit the world-famous commercial intersection in Midtown, Manhattan.
Times Square sees an estimated 50 million visitors annually and about 330,000 people pass through it daily.
‘This unprovoked attack was senseless and absurd,’ MTA acting Chief Communications Officer Tim Minton said. ‘The city needs to provide additional mental health services to assist those who may endanger themselves and others. The NYPD’s rapid identification and arrest in this case makes riders safer.’
Anthonia Egegbara, 29, is lead away by NYPD, as transit crimes in New York City rose by 121.7 per cent for the week ending September 26, compared to the same period in 2020
Horrifying surveillance video shows the moment when Anthonia Egegbara allegedly pushed a fellow commuter into a train at the Times Square subway station on Monday morning
Video shows the Egegbara allegedly sitting on a bench and, as the train comes into view around 8.15 am, she stands up and initiates her push. She then fled the scene
Police arrested 29-year-old Anthonia Egegbara (pictured) and charged her with attempted murder for the incident
One subway rider, who witnessed the shoving, said the crime at the station is not surprising.
‘This is like what it used to be like in the 80s,’ the individual told ABC 7.
‘People are wicked to be able to push someone on a moving train, and for what? I don’t know, but it’s horrible,’ another passenger, CJ Stewart told CBS 2.
According to witnesses, Egegbara timed her attack.
Witnesses said the attack serves as a reminder to be aware of your surroundings.
‘Definitely a good reminder to keep your eyes peeled and be on your toes in New York,’ West Village resident Tyler Sparling said.
‘We’re all usually in our phones and stuff, or listening to music. So we’re not always 100% aware,’ echoed Bryana Yard, of Brooklyn.
Police taped off the portion of the platform where the incident occurred and continuing to search for the suspect.
The busy Times Square station was a hotspot for crime on Monday, just hours later officers were called to the station again for reports of shots fired.
A 39-year-old from Brooklyn was urinating in the corner of West 40th Street and Seventh Avenue, near a McDonald’s and sushi restaurant Wasabi, when he was shot in his right leg, according to the New York Post.
He is believed to have accidentally shot himself in the leg.
Eyewitnesses told ABC 7 that the shots went off inside the subway station, with the man seen stumbling up to ground level afterwards, before re-entering the station to ask for help.
The bullet sent him stumbling down into a nearby train station.
A person was shot in Times Square early Monday afternoon – the third instance of gun violence in the busy tourist hub this year, police said
The man’s injuries are not fatal and no one has been arrested in the case, police say. His shooting is the third to hit Times Square in 2020
Video from the scene shows officers carrying an injured person into an ambulance as passersby cross the bustling intersection.
Authorities have not named the man, who is likely to face criminal charges as a result. He is reportedly not cooperating with investigators.
Monday’s incidents come as overall crime in New York City dropped in August after a summer crime wave that had city officials pointing fingers at each other.
Total crime dropped by one percent in August compared to August 2020, with the biggest drops being in burglary, -24 percent, and shooting incidents, -30.7 percent, according to the latest official monthly figures from the NYPD.
The trend may be reversing, as weekly numbers ending on Sunday show that felony assaults are up by 7 percent, shootings are up by 1.6 percent and rapes are up by 2.2 percent as a whole compared to the same time last year.
Felony assault, rape and shootings were all up through October 3 compared to last year
Monday’s shooting is the third such incident in Times Square this year.
In May, three unrelated bystanders were hit by stray bullets in the busy tourist hub after police say a man started shooting indiscriminately during an argument with someone else.
A four-year-old girl was struck in the leg, a 24-year-old woman was hit in the thigh and a 44-year-old woman was shot in the foot, police said. All were expected to survive.
‘This little girl was so strong,’ Officer Alyssa Vogel told WNBC. ‘She didn’t even cry once except when we were putting the tourniquet on. She screamed because it’s very painful.’
In July, 16-year-old Avon Darden turned himself in and was charged with attempted murder after shooting US Marine Samuel Poulin, 21, in the back.
Poulin was not seriously injured.
The young soldier had recently graduated from The Citadel military college in South Carolina with a commission in the US Marine Corps.
The New York City Police Department has also reported numerous attacks in subway stations in the last few weeks.
On September 13, a 32-year-old was attacked after she confronted a man for shoving past her on the escalator at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center Station.
According to the Daily News, the woman told her attacker to ‘say excuse me.’
He responded ‘I did’ and kicked her in the chest.
The victim fell backwards to the bottom of the escalator as the suspect continued up the escalator and out of the station.
Police say the woman suffered cuts and bruises to her back, arms, legs, right knee and right thigh and trauma to her left ankle.
In July, 16-year-old Avon Darden (left) turned himself in and was charged with attempted murder after shooting US Marine Samuel Poulin, 21, (right) in the back, in Time Square
In August, a similar incident occurred at the Union Square station, where a homeless man was caught striking a victim in the back of the head with a hammer, before leaving him bleeding on the platform after the victim looked at him in the ‘wrong way’
Xing Zhou, 59, (left) was on her way to church when Vladimir Pierre, 41, (right) allegedly hit her
Earlier last month, a deaf woman fell onto the subway tracks after she was hit in the head by a homeless man who had been arrested for sucker-punching another victim just four days earlier.
Xing Zhou, 59, was on her way to church on September 5 when a man hit her in the head at Manhattan’s Union Square subway station. She lost her balance during the attack and fell onto the tracks.
Two bystanders helped Zhou off the tracks and waited with her until help arrived. She was taken to the hospital and given medication for her pain.
Police later arrested Vladimir Pierre, 41, in connection to the attack.
In August, a similar incident occurred at the Union Square station, where a homeless man was caught striking a victim in the back of the head with a hammer, before leaving him bleeding on the platform after the victim looked at him in the ‘wrong way.’
Police arrested 41-year-old Jamar Newton from Brooklyn and charged him with assault, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon and robbery.
That incident occurred one day after another woman was randomly attacked on a subway platform and beaten with a metal pole while waiting for the G train.
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