Police in the Bronx arrested a suspect who allegedly slashed an on-duty train conductor across the face early Tuesday afternoon.
Officers nabbed 29-year-old Isaiah Thompson at his brother-in-law’s house in the Bronx, within the confines of the 43rd Precinct on Wednesday, charging him with seven counts of assault, two counts of menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.
NYPD sources said surveillance footage helped detectives track down Thompson and make the arrests.
The 36-year-old MTA employee was on a 6 train in Foxhurst, making service announcements and attempting to close the train doors, when Thompson came up to her and, using what police described as a sharp object, slashed her face on the left side of her nose below her left eye.
The victim, though bloodied and injured, was able to immediately call for help. Thompson, at the time, got away before officers from the 41st Precinct arrived.
EMS rushed the hurt conductor to St. Barnabas Hospital, where she was treated for her injury and released.
Thompson is no stranger to the police and has a rap sheet of various charges dating back to July 2018, with many of his crimes committed in the transit system.
A known subway surfer and repeat fare evader, he was arrested most recently in May for jumping a turnstile, during which he pushed a police officer, law enforcement sources said.
Cops arrested him again for another violent crime in October 2019, when he pushed a woman into a stationary train at the DeKalb Avenue station in Brooklyn, which is home to the L line.
Meanwhile, Tuesday’s brazen assault on the conductor did not go unnoticed by her transit union.
John Chiarello, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, released a statement on Tuesday following the attack, calling on the NYPD to be “especially vigilant” to cover the conductor’s cab areas as they are on patrol in train stations.
During an unrelated press conference on Wednesday, Demetrius Crichlow, NYC Transit president, said it is a “cowardly act” to attack an agency employee.
“We have cameras in all of our cars, every single subway car has a camera in it,” he said. “We have cameras in all of our stations. So if you want to attack one of our employees, we will ensure that we give every piece of information necessary to make sure that you’re caught for doing it.
