A crazed man slashed a subway conductor in the neck; a jilted lover shoved his ex-girlfriend in front of a moving car, maiming her; a belligerent shot in the head with his own gun; and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sent in National Guard troops and state police to help restore order to New York City’s public transportation system.
And on Monday afternoon, two off-duty NYPD officers riding a commuter train arrested another slashing suspect after he allegedly hacked a rider’s face with a box cutter, according to authorities.
{snip}
“Get off of him, bro,” he says, pleading with him to stop the attack. “He ain’t done nothing to you.”
The NYPD said the off-duty officers arrested a 32-year-old man accused of slashing the 27-year-old victim after a verbal altercation. Charges were pending.
“The reality is, if force against riders is used or threatened and if they choose to defend themselves, there is a likelihood that the assailants might get hurt and the riders defending themselves are the ones being arrested,” said Steven Raiser, a partner at Raiser & Kenniff, the law firm representing Daniel Penny. “That is a ‘Catch-22,’ let yourself, or someone else, be a victim, or risk being a defendant in court.”
Penny could face up to 15 years in prison after placing an emotionally unstable man named Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold last year. He cooperated with police and was initially released, and is set to return to court on Wednesday.
{snip}
Penny allegedly told police an “irate” Neely “was threatening everybody” and ranting about going to prison, according to court documents.
“Between stops, you’re trapped on the train, and there’s nowhere to go. You can try to move away, but you can only do so much on a packed car,” Penny, 24, previously told Fox News Digital. “I was scared. I looked around, and I saw older women and children, and they were terrified.”
Neely had a documented history of mental illness and a criminal record that included prior subway assaults. He allegedly got on the train, threw his jacket down and began threatening to kill people while warning, “I’m prepared to go to jail for life.”
{snip
Experts are warning that the case against Penny is dissuading other potential good Samaritans from getting involved when they have a choice not to. This as robberies and transit crime continue to climb in the Big Apple – by 5.8% and 6.9%, respectively, so far this year over last, according to the latest NYPD statistics.
“Alvin Bragg has destroyed anybody’s chance of intervening and helping somebody,” said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
{snip}
As for the governor’s move to bolster security with the National Guard, Raiser said it’s only a temporary solution to a long-standing problem.
“This approach is, at best, a Band-Aid to temporarily control the lawlessness until a solution can be found,” he said. “Gov. Hochul needs to produce a plan to address the mentally ill and the homelessness crisis that is the root cause of havoc in our subways.”
* Original Article:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/lawlessness-continues-plague-nyc-trains-da-bragg-pushes-manslaughter-case-against-daniel-penny.amp
