The man who is believed to be responsible for pushing a stranger onto the subway tracks at a Brooklyn subway station in New York has been arrested and charged with attempted murder, it has been revealed. 41-year-old Lamale McRae was arrested earlier this week in Queens, as law enforcement officers were able to track him down thanks to the surveillance footage that caught the unprovoked attack which occurred on Friday.
According to ABC News, McRae, whose rap sheet includes 30 prior arrests, was later arraigned in Queens Criminal Court where he was charged with attempted murder in the second degree and attempted assault in the first degree. But that’s not all. Additional CCTV footage showed that McRae had allegedly pushed an eight-year-old boy to the floor as he fled the scene, resulting in the minor suffering from a knee injury, and prompting McRae to also be charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
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McRae has been scheduled to appear in court on November 14. The victim, 32-year-old David Martin, was left with a broken collarbone and several bruises on his body from the incident on the L train platform at the Wyckoff Avenue and Myrtle Avenue subway station. As previously reported, his mother, Audrey Martin, told the New York Post on Sunday that her son was so traumatized by what transpired, he’d been battling suicidal thoughts ever since.
“We have a city under crisis. We have a mental health crisis,” she told the news publication. As for how her son was doing after Friday’s ambush, Audrey added, “He’s completely traumatized. He wants to kill himself. I had to take a knife away from him this morning.
On 10/21 at 2:40 pm, at the Wycoff Ave & Myrtle Ave subway station, a 32-year-old male was knocked onto the tracks by the individual depicted below. The victim was not struck by the train & did not sustain physical injuries. Have info? Contact @NYPDTips pic.twitter.com/ZVQfEU7mhZ
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) October 22, 2022
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“He’s in a lot of pain. His shoulder is completely shot. His back is completely shot. His underarm is completely shot. His face is constantly burning. I can’t get him out of the house. He can’t get into bed, he can’t get out of bed. … He started smoking cigarettes again, which he’s not supposed to [do]. It’s unbelievable. I don’t know what to do.”
The crime rate in New York subway stations has been increasing at a rapid rate, and while Mayor Eric Adams has promised to have more cops stationed underground, Audrey firmly believes that the attacks are related to mental health and that having more police officers at the stations ultimately wouldn’t change a thing.