Failing to pay just $2.75 to get on the New York subway led to the arrest of two men with loaded guns at stations in Queens and Brooklyn, one of them an ex-convict gang member.
During a routine operation to prevent the fare evasion that has become so common on the New York subway, undercover officers from the 100th Precinct and the 23rd Transit District in Rockaway Beach observed a 25-year-old man jumping through the turnstile on Thursday, in the Beach 67th Street station, the NYPD reported via Twitter.
The officers identified themselves and the perpetrator became combative. Upon review, they discovered that the young man was carrying a loaded Smith & Wesson pistol. NYPD proceeded to detain him and there were no injuries, he said. QNS.com. His name was not released.
A previous case had happened around 9:40 am Wednesday at the Kingston–Throop Avenues station in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, where Isaac Foster (35) was arrested with a loaded Ruger LCP .380 handgun.
In checking his identity, the NYPD said Foster is an ex-convict with an extensive criminal record and a member of the G-Stone Crips gang who lives in Crown Heights. He was charged with multiple counts, including criminal possession of a weapon, intentional defacement of a machine gun/weapon and theft of service, it listed. New York Post.
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
In a similar case, in October a 17-year-old wanted for homicide in the Bronx was arrested by chance when authorities saw him trying to sneak into a Brooklyn subway station without paying.
In July, two teenagers were caught brutally beating NYPD officers after they were confronted for allegedly jumping the turnstile at an East Harlem station.
MTA faces millions in losses due to the increasing number of users who access the Metro and buses without paying, some for not having money and others for simple vandalism. “Toll” collectors have also appeared: people who open the emergency doors of the stations to let others through in exchange for a “collaboration” in cash.
Ironically, very few people use the “Fair Fares” program that the city offers so that low-income New Yorkers pay half the fare on public transportation, the same that applies to students, people with disabilities and seniors. 65 years.
Income requirements are based on federal poverty levels and consider pay stubs, tax returns, or information from other programs, such as unemployment or food benefits. Check eligibility for the program here.