NYC subway crime is down, police say, but 2 recent attacks have rattled nerves
NEW YORK -- The New York City Police Department says transit crime is down 35%, but just in the last two days a young man was stabbed on one train and a woman was pushed into another.
The former described this past weekend's harrowing experience.
"'Bro, why you so close to me?'"
Devonte Walters is a 25-year-old Bronx father who says he usually doesn't take the subway, but on Sunday morning, on his way home from work, he says he was stabbed multiple times on a 5 train by a man he never met.
"On the train, felt someone kept staring at me," Walters said. "I was standing by the door and then he got up to ... his shoulder touched my shoulder. I turned around, 'Bro, why you so close to me?' As soon as the door opened, that's when he started stabbing me."
Walters said he feared the worst.
"I was blacking out," he said, adding when asked if he thought he was going to do, "Honestly, I did. That was the scariest part about it. Thinking I was gonna die, I wasn't gonna see my daughter again."
He said he fought back and eventually the suspect took off.
CBS News New York saw pictures of Walters in the hospital and he described all the different parts of his body that required stiches and staples.
On Monday morning in Washington Heights, police say a 23-year woman was pushed into an oncoming A train while she was on her way to work. She struck the train and then fell back onto the platform. Thankfully, she's expected to survive.
Police say the man arrested had several priors.
"They need more authority on the train," Walters said.
Is the NYPD surge underground working?
Those two incidents follow CBS News New York going underground last week with police, homeless outreach workers, and the city's senior advisor on severe mental illness to see what's being done to keep New Yorkers safe.
City and state officials say they're adding more cops on trains overnight and providing services to those taking shelter in the subway system.
However, Walters said it's not enough.
"We never had a conversation, never seen him in my life," he said. "To have this happen to me, I never thought in a million years, never thought it would happen."
CBS News New York has learned extra officers have been added on trains in the Bronx. It's still unclear if the 5 Walter was on is one of those lines. He said he didn't see any officers at the time.
