17-year-old accused of assaulting 2 LIRR conductors after refusing to pay fare
NEW YORK -- A 17-year-old boy was arrested Friday in connection with an attack on a Long Island Rail Road train.
Brief video of the confrontation was posted to social media.
It happened on a train bound for Atlantic Terminal on Thursday morning.
MTA Police say the suspected attacker allegedly assaulted two conductors after refusing to pay the fare. He ran off at the East New York station.
A union leader spoke about how technology helped lead to a quick arrest.
"Some of the older cars that they're using right now, they need to figure out how to get more cameras 'cause they're not equipped with cameras. This was a fortunate thing that it was an M9 car and it had a camera, but if it wasn't, we don't know if we would have ever caught this individual," said Anthony Simon, general chairman of the SMART Transportation union on the Long Island Rail Road.
Both conductors were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
The accused teen now faces assault and robbery charges.