Man charged in case of woman pushed onto subway tracks in Village

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A suspect has been arrested and charged in an attack on a transgender woman in the Bleecker Street subway station earlier this week.

Rolan Reid, 32, who is homeless, faces several charges including second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime and assault as a hate crime.

Police said Reid has more than 25 prior arrests, many of them involving the transit system.

Authorities said the 28-year-old victim was on the southbound No. 6 train platform at Lafayette and Bleecker Street on Monday morning when she was approached by a male suspect acting erratically. The suspect said to her "what are you looking at," and ran to a garbage pail, where he removed an empty plastic bottle, authorities said. The man then threw the bottle at the woman and pushed her onto the tracks, police said. Other riders on the platform pulled the woman to safety.

She was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was treated and released. The suspect fled toward the F, B, D and M lines. The victim is transgender, and the police Hate Crimes Task Force investigated to determine if bias motivated the attack.

Reid was taken on Friday to Bellevue Hospital for evaluation before he was questioned. He was spotted on a number 6 train Thursday night, heading southbound from the 125th Street station. When he got off one train at Canal Street and was waiting on the platform, he was taken into custody.

Police said the suspect threatened the arresting officers, telling them, "I'll throw you guys onto the tracks, too." According to the New York City Police Department, he was wearing the same clothes as in the surveillance video of the attack.

There were no bias statements made or other indicators of bias during the attack, authorities said. Instead, the suspect appeared to be an emotionally disturbed person who was acting irrationally.

Neighbors said the victim is a giving person who takes care of her elderly grandmother.

"Whatever a person is in their own personal life that's their business, to bother one, to attack one is inexcusable. It's a disgrace to the human race to do such an act," said David McMillan, the victim's neighbor.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.