Man arrested after woman pushes New York subway tracks as train approaches

A New York woman was pushed onto subway tracks as a train approached in a terrifying and random attack captured on security video, authorities said Friday.

Fortunately, the woman found herself inside – not on top – of two rails and kept her head bowed as the train passed through Union Square Station in Manhattan around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, witnesses and officials said. law enforcement.

“It’s very disturbing,” said Captain Kathleen O’Reilly of the New York Police Department. “We saw him (the suspect in the video) wait, calculating for the train to approach the station.”

A 24-year-old homeless man, Aditya Vemulapati, has been arrested and charged with attempted murder and reckless endangerment, police said on Friday.

“She fell, luckily for her, between the rolling bed and the rails, and by the grace of God suffered minor injuries,” O’Reilly said.

The 40-year-old woman, who was waiting to board a train 5, suffered cuts to her head and body.

“I see someone fall down the track and I say, ‘What is this? “Witness Andre Gunter said.” The conductor stopped the train before it could 100% go back up, then he came out traumatized, he said, ‘It was a person.’ “

The station serves around 22 million passengers per year. There were a lot of police officers on duty there and they quickly made the arrest, according to O’Reilly.

The attack on Union Square followed another pushing incident 28 blocks north at 42nd Street / Bryant Park Station Wednesday night.

Suspect Justin Pena, 24, allegedly pushed a 36-year-old UPS employee back on track after the victim refused to give him money.

Neither Vemulapati nor Pena had hired or been assigned to defense attorneys as of Friday morning, a representative for the Manhattan district attorney said.

“These appalling attacks have absolutely no place in our system,” MTA Representative Andrei Berman said in a statement. “These are horrific incidents that no one should have to experience – period. We will continue to work closely with law enforcement to keep New Yorkers safe as they roam the system.”