Overview
- Police say the attacks began around 8:45 a.m. at the 53rd Street/4th Avenue R line platform, where a 51-year-old was shoved onto the tracks and 43-year-old Benita Frias was punched before a 17-year-old was struck nearby.
- Officers identified the suspect as 25-year-old Curtis Signal and arrested him a few blocks away at a nearby shelter; he faces charges including assault, harassment and reckless endangerment.
- All three victims were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and the woman pushed onto the tracks was able to get back onto the platform before a train arrived.
- Frias remains hospitalized, her daughter said, with facial swelling and a broken knee requiring surgery that the family expects to be delayed due to the Presidents’ Day holiday.
- NYPD officials say the investigation is ongoing and cite department data showing roughly a 17% increase in major subway crimes this year, with additional officers deployed to the transit system.