Police charged a 28-year-old man with four counts of assault Friday in connection with a pair of slashings on a Queens subway platform that injured two other men.
Tyquan Manassa was arrested for the alleged assaults after officers took him into custody for an unrelated assault and criminal mischief incident Thursday, according to NYPD officials. Authorities did not provide details about that incident but said it occurred in the 25th Precinct, which covers East Harlem and Randall’s Island.
Manassa lives at a homeless shelter on Randall’s Island, according to officials. His attorney information for the subway case was not yet available and his listed lawyer for the other incident did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
Police said Manassa attacked a 42-year-old man and a 50-year-old man without provocation on the southbound E train platform at the Union Turnpike-Kew Gardens station Wednesday around 3:15 p.m. Both men sustained slash injuries to their faces and were taken to the hospital in stable condition, according to the NYPD. Officials said Manassa fled the station.
NYPD data shows overall transit crime is down almost 5% citywide compared to the same period last year, but violent assaults on the city’s subways and buses are up slightly. More than 500 felony assaults were reported in the transit system this year through Nov. 16, out of more than 1,800 total transit crimes.
This is a developing story based on preliminary information from police and may be updated.
