The NYPD claims to have caught the "subway brakes", which could have caused 700 delays: NPR

Commuters in New York have reason to rejoice: the subway brake bandit was apparently apprehended, officials said Friday.

Brooklyn resident Isaiah Thompson, 23, reportedly spent at least 40 times stealthily braking emergency brakes on the city's subways, causing 700 trains and their passengers to be delayed.

On Friday, police told reporters that Thompson had been arrested at his home and that, during his interrogation by detectives, he had confessed to having enjoyed the "thrill" of suddenly stopping New York trains.

"When you take [account] In terms of the number of incidents that have occurred in the last few months, you talk about delays and worsening of runners, visitors, daily commuters, "said NYPD inspector Brian McGee during the summer break. a press conference held I've seen it's: He likes to do that.He likes to wreak havoc. "

McGee said Thompson was arrested for a brakes incident in Manhattan and for a case of "train surfing" or driving outside a train car. Investigators are investigating whether the series of sudden, unscheduled shutdowns that force all commuters off the subway was caused by Thompson.

For the transport authorities, he is a known scofflaw, having recorded 17 arrests for surfing by train, according to McGee.

Public transit officials believe that Thompson was following a pattern: he overfleved the train, had access to a functioning cabin, which was generally not accessible to passengers, and then went on strike: the handbrake. At that time, say the officials, he would sink into darkness.

The result was what city officials called a "double whammy", according to which the train must be stopped and transit workers must cut off track power, further delaying trains .

After a series of rush hour delays Tuesday night, transport officials for the first time publicly revealed said they thought a serial criminal was at work.

Although it had been months since municipal officials thought that all the mysterious emergency stoppages could recently be attributed to a single train wrecker, public transport and police officials remained silent, fearing that the publication of the theory does not trigger acts of reprisal.

The tendency to cause transit problems is not just a disadvantage, said McGee, but the safety of passengers could have been endangered, especially if a passenger had a medical emergency.

"It's dangerous for the number of passengers and for that person who was at the back of the train," McGee said. "Once you've pulled on the brake of a train, there's an offshoot all the way," he said. "This train can cause a lot of delays."

Investigators said it was unclear exactly how Thompson had managed to escape his misdeed without being detected for months, but McGee said he was certain of something else "Mr Thompson is the ideal candidate for a permanent expulsion from the transit system," he said. .