The NYPD have cuffed the suspect allegedly responsible for a brutal subway attack with a hammer and charged the person with hate crimes.
Police apprehended 48-year-old Christian Jeffers of 741 Columbus Ave. on Wednesday, March 9, for bludgeoning a 29-year-old Asian man with the tool inside the mezzanine of the 14th Street and 7th Avenue subway station the day before.
Jeffers is charged with assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment as a hate crime, menacing as a hate crime, and criminal possession of a weapon.
Cops spotted Jeffers at the 125th Street Station at Lexington Avenue Wednesday evening at 6:45 p.m. wearing the same red varsity jacket as during the alleged attack Tuesday.
Jeffers also still had the hammer, a police spokesperson said.
According to sources familiar with the investigation, police saw Jeffers buying drugs, but the suspect was not charged with any drug offenses.
As Jeffers was led away from Transit District 4 at Union Square in handcuffs Wednesday evening, the suspect blamed the victim, adding that they identify as transgender.
“He attacked me first,” Jeffers told reporters while being walked to a squad car. “He pushed a transgender.”
Cell phone footage from the scene published by police shows Jeffers confronting another person, but does not show the victim shoving first.
MTA Chairperson and CEO Janno Lieber praised the Boys in Blue for catching the suspect quickly.
“We are grateful for the outstanding police work by the NYPD who were able to locate and arrest the person who attacked one of our riders within 24 [hours] of the incident,” said Lieber in a statement. “We will always stand up for our customers and their safety, and we expect this perpetrator of a hate crime will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
— Additional reporting by Kevin Duggan
