Detectives apprehended the suspected Manhattan subway rapist accused of sexually assaulting a man on board a 1 train last weekend, police announced Thursday afternoon.
Mohammed Azeem, 36, of Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn was taken into custody just before 2:50 p.m. on May 1, hours after the NYPD released video and images Thursday morning of the perpetrator behind the depraved assault on April 26.
As detectives walked Azeem out of the 84th Precinct stationhouse in Brooklyn — the headquarters of the NYPD Transit Bureau’s Special Victims Squad — the suspect ranted and raved as reporters questioned him about the incident.
“They got me, G,” he shouted as he came out. When asked by amNewYork if he had anything to say to the victim, Azeem poked his head out of a police car and shouted, “I’m not gay. We don’t do that stuff.”
Police alleged that Azeem went on the attack on board an Uptown-bound 1 train as it approached the Christopher Street station at about 4:15 a.m. on April 26.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police learned that the perpetrator approached the victim, a 27-year-old man, and demanded money.
Moments later, sources familiar with the case said, the suspect grabbed the victim’s head and forced the man to perform oral sex on him.
Following the attack, cops said, the creep then departed the train at Christopher Street and fled to parts unknown.
The incident was reported to the 6th Precinct and NYPD Transit District 2. EMS rushed the victim to Northwell Greenwich Village Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
The victim did not know his attacker, police sources said. No weapons had been displayed in the assault, and no property was taken from the victim.
In the video police provided, captured by a security camera inside the train car, the suspect is seen walking away from someone and sniffing his fingers.
Not long after the NYPD released the images and video, sources familiar with the case said, a security guard on Madison Avenue in Midtown spotted Azeem, who appeared to match the suspect’s description, and contacted police. Officers responding to the call conducted a search and located Azeem near 450 5th Ave. at about 9:50 a.m. Thursday morning.
Azeem now faces charges of first-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse and forcible touching. Sources familiar with the case said he has 18 prior arrests to his record, including one in 2017 for public lewdness.
Updated on May 1 at 3:52 p.m.
