National
illegal arrested after burning sleeping woman in NY subway
Early Sunday morning, a man calmly approached a woman who was sitting motionless and possibly dozing on a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station and, without saying anything, lit the woman’s clothes on fire, engulfing her in deadly flames in seconds, the police said.
The man then watched from a bench on the subway platform as officers and a Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire.
The woman, who had not yet been identified as of Sunday night, was pronounced dead at the scene. Hours later, the man was taken into custody in connection with the fatal attack while riding another F train.
Jessica Tisch, the police commissioner, said at a news conference on Sunday evening that the police apprehended someone they believe “carried out one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being, and it took the life of an innocent New Yorker.”
Ms. Tisch said the officers who responded to the attack were patrolling the upper level of the station and went to investigate after they saw and smelled smoke just before 7:30 a.m.
Cameras on the subway car and body cameras on the responding officers caught images of the suspect during and after the attack, which they quickly circulated.
The man was taken into custody after three high schoolers called to report that they saw a man on an F train in Brooklyn who they believed appeared in photos shared by the police and that were posted by the news media.
When an officer met the students, the officer saw the man riding the F train and still wearing the same clothes from the time of the attack.
The officer radioed ahead to stop the train and keep the doors closed, which allowed the police to enter the subway car at Herald Square and take the man into custody, said Joseph Gulotta, the chief of transit for the Police Department.
The police commissioner said the man was found with a lighter. Chief Gulotta said that the man, who was not publicly identified, emigrated from Guatemala to the United States in 2018. Investigators do not believe the man and the woman knew each other.
David Johnson, 64, has slept in subways that turn around at the Coney Island station for about two years.
“The trains are getting more dangerous,” he said. While sleeping on a train in the station, he added, “I got hit in the head a couple of years back.”
The same thing that makes the Coney Island station attractive for sleeping makes it likewise for crime: “It’s way out of the way,” Mr. Johnson said.
As for why a woman was targeted, Mr. Johnson shook his head and said it made no sense. “They pick on the weaker,” he said.
The attack on Sunday took place as subway safety has become a concern for riders and workers.
The following week, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced that she would deploy 1,000 members of the State Police and National Guard to the transit system after a series of violent crimes on the subway.
According to a Dec. 18 news release from the governor’s office, subway crime was down 42 percent since 2021 while ridership has increased 148 percent.
