Career NYC Criminal Assaults Two People In A Week, Walks Free Because Of New York’s Lax Bail Reform Laws

A career criminal with more than 20 arrests to his name since 1999 was released for two separate assaults this week because of the state of New York’s bail reform laws.

The 37-year-old suspect appeared in court Wednesday after allegedly assaulting a woman on the New York City Subway in late February. Surveillance video from the Bronx subway station showed the man walking up to a woman with a black plastic bag in his hand. Then, without saying a word, the suspect smashed the contents of the bag, allegedly his own fecal matter, in her face, and smeared it on the back of her head before fleeing the scene, as the New York Post reported. According to the Bronx Assistant District Attorney present at his arraignment hearing, the suspect made a pass at the woman, but the woman did not engage with him. He then walked into a nearby idling subway car, where he defecated into the bag, before he walked back to the woman and attacked her.

The alleged assailant was arrested at a homeless shelter on Monday, where he reportedly joked about the incident to police. “S–t happens. Haha. This is a s–tty situation. Haha,” he said, according to the Bronx ADA. The suspect was allegedly belligerent during the arraignment, claiming he was being “mistreated by the system,” then shouting insults at the presiding judge. But the suspect was freed without bail, because, as the Post reported, the charges against him were not eligible for bail under the state of New York’s bail reform laws, which disallowed cash bail to be set for a number of charges.

The suspect was released, but was then promptly arrested by Brooklyn detectives in connection with a hate crime that the suspect had allegedly committed in the Crown Heights neighborhood in September. The suspect allegedly assaulted a man and chased him down a street, shouting, “F***ing Jew, I’m going to kill you.” He then allegedly spat on the man’s chest and attempted to punch him, but missed, before he took off. He was charged with second-degree aggravated harassment as a hate crime, disorderly conduct, and two counts of menacing, including one as a hate crime. But again, he was released on a supervised basis because bail cannot be set on any of those charges, due to the state’s bail reform.

On top of the two recent assaults, the Post reported that the suspect has a history of over 20 arrests since 1999, including two in connection with other assaults in February. He was arrested on February 5 after he allegedly punched a Greyhound bus driver in the back of the head at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. He was arraigned and released again in that case for the same reason — the charges were not eligible for cash bail. Then on February 22, the day after he reportedly committed the subway assault, he allegedly assaulted an employee with a screwdriver he took off a sales rack, and snatched a can of Mace from another employee at a hardware store in the Wakefield neighborhood. He was released on his own recognizance in that case as well.

The subway assault is also the latest in an alarming trend of crime in the NYC subway system, including the case of a 40-year-old woman who was pushed to her death in front of a subway train in January. The crime spike has since garnered the attention of NYC Mayor Eric Adams and the national media.

The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases