Police in New York City have arrested and charged a man over an attack in which a 63-year-old man was shoved onto the subway tracks in Queens. The arrest, announced by authorities, brings a suspect into custody in a case that had alarmed riders because of how suddenly and dangerously it unfolded on a station platform.
According to police, the man now facing charges is Terrell Jarrett. Authorities say he pushed the victim, who was sitting on the southbound platform of the F line at Parsons Boulevard, in an incident that took place last month before the suspect was identified and taken into custody.
The victim did not escape unharmed. Police say the 63-year-old suffered a deep cut to his head as well as cuts to his face, the kind of injuries that can result when a person is forced down onto the tracks and the hard edges of a station platform and rails.
The charges Jarrett now faces are serious. Police say he has been charged with attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment, a combination that reflects how authorities view the act of pushing someone onto subway tracks, where the danger of trains and electrified rails is ever present.
Following his arrest, Jarrett was ordered held without bail, and he is expected back in court on July 8. For now, the case moves into the court system, where prosecutors will lay out their evidence and the legal process will play out over the coming weeks.
As with any criminal case, Jarrett has been charged but not convicted, and he is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until the allegations are proven in court. The charges represent the accusations against him, not a final determination of what happened on the platform.
The case adds to long-running concerns in New York about safety on subway platforms, where shoving incidents, though relatively rare against the scale of daily ridership, carry the potential for catastrophic harm. The arrest is likely to be watched closely by riders who pass through stations like Parsons Boulevard every day.