NYC subway feces attack suspect arrested
NEW YORK - Police in New York have arrested a suspect in a very disturbing subway attack in which a woman was struck in the face and the back of her head with human feces.
Authorities charged Frank Abrokwa, 37, with forcible touching, menacing, disorderly conduct and harassment.
The NYPD said that a 43-year-old woman was sitting on a bench on the subway platform at the East 241st Street-Wakefield station in the Bronx last Monday when at about 5:15 p.m. Abrokwa suddenly attacked her. He struck her face and the back of her head with feces, police said.
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Security camera video shows the attacker repeatedly hitting the woman in the face and head with something in his hand as she tried to shield herself. He then walks away.
A man was stabbed to death in the same subway station in December.
There have been a series of high-profile crimes in the subway system as officials try to convince people to go back into the mass transit system.
Related: Woman attacked with hammer in NYC subway
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has pledged to take on the rise in crime on New York City's subways, by deploying specialized teams to provide services to people experiencing mental health issues or homelessness across the city, along with adding more NYPD officers to the trains to keep riders safe and several other changes.
"We are going to ensure that fear is not New York's reality," said Adams at a launch event for the new initiative.
It includes the following steps:
- Deploying up to 30 Joint Response Teams that bring together DHS, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, NYPD, and community-based providers in high-need locations across our city.
- Training NYPD officers in the subway system to enforce the MTA and New York City Transit Authority’s rules of conduct in a fair and transparent way.
- Expanding Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division "B-HEARD" teams to six new precincts, more than doubling the precincts covered to 11. These teams will expand on the pilot of answering non-violent 911 mental health calls with mental health professionals.
- Incorporating medical services into DHS sites serving individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Expanded DHS Safe Havens and stabilization bed programs will offer on-site physical and behavioral health care to immediately address clients’ needs.
- Immediately improving coordination across government with weekly "Enhanced Outreach Taskforce" meetings that bring together senior leaders from 13 city and state agencies to address issues quickly.