Subway chaos erupted on Tuesday with multiple incidents of violence and criminal activity reported. Two individuals were slashed, a loaded rifle was discovered in a subway station, and multiple arrests were made.
The first incident involved a 52-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman, Chrisena Chambers, who got into a heated argument over seating on a northbound No. 6 train at Lexington Avenue and East 51st Street. Chambers allegedly slashed the man on the left side of his face near his ear. Despite the injury, Chambers remained on the train until she was apprehended at the East 125th Street station in Harlem. She was charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and harassment.
Later that evening, a man slashed a woman across the face inside the 125th Street station at St. Nicholas Avenue. The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside in stable condition. The attacker, described as wearing a black hoodie with a multi-colored flower, fled the scene and had not been apprehended by the following day.
In a separate incident, a man was found in a Bronx subway station with a loaded, defaced Palmetto State Armory TA-15 rifle. Abraham Sosa, 20, was caught trespassing in the Kingsbridge Road B and D train station. When confronted by police, Sosa resisted arrest and fought with officers, causing minor injuries to two of them. During the struggle, the rifle fell out of Sosa’s backpack. Another individual, Christopher Mayren, joined the altercation, kicking a police officer’s body-worn camera onto the subway tracks and stealing a cell phone.
Sosa was charged with multiple weapon possession offenses, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, criminal trespass, assault on a police officer, and second-degree assault. Mayren faced charges of obstructing governmental administration, criminal mischief, criminal possession of stolen property, petit larceny, aggravated harassment, and harassment.
While overall felony crime in the city’s transit system has decreased compared to the previous year, certain violent crimes have seen an increase. Murders have risen to nine from five in 2023, and reported rapes have increased from four to six. Shootings on the subway have also seen a spike, with 11 people injured in six incidents compared to five injured in four shootings the previous year. Gun arrests have significantly increased, with 65 arrests so far in 2024 compared to 39 at the same point in 2023.
