NYPD: Man groped 13-year-old on separate subway rides in New York City

ByCandace McCowan, Eyewitness News WABC logo
Friday, March 8, 2019
NYPD: Man groped 13-year-old on separate subway rides in New York City
New updates on a person of interest in the subway groping incidents on New York City subays.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A man is under arrest in connection with the groping of a young teenager on two separate occasions on the subway.

66-year-old Walter Polanco of Queens has been charged with stalking and forcible touching.

Authorities say the 13-year-old victim was able to identify the man who allegedly touched her on two separate occasions on the 7 train and the 5 train.

The first incident happened on February 12 during the morning commute, when police say the man approached the teen and touched her inner thigh while on the northbound 7 train as it approached Queensboro Plaza.

The, around 7:15 a.m. on February 26, police say the same man approached the girl on the northbound 5 train as it approached the 86th Street station on the Upper East Side.

This time, he allegedly touched her upper thigh before getting off the train near 149th and Grand Concourse in the Bronx.

On Thursday morning, police say a man from Ecuador walked into a Queens precinct to surrender.

He reportedly has prior arrests for drugs, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property

Anyone with additional information in regard to the identity of this male is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

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