Arrest made in Brooklyn random slashing; suspect said, 'I will chop you up on this train'

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Friday, January 29, 2016
These are an NYPD-released photos of the suspect in the attack on a Brooklyn subway.
WABC-WABC

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The NYPD says they have made an arrest in a subway slashing in Brooklyn.

Police said 37-year-old Ras Alula Nagarit is facing several charges including 2nd degree assault, attempted 2nd degree assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and menacing.

A woman was riding a southbound 3 subway between Atlantic Avenue and Eastern Parkway at around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when a man told her, "I will chop you up on this train." He hit her hand with an object wrapped in a cloth, causing a minor nick, according to the new York City Police Department said. She was treated at the precinct.

Police said it apparently was a random attack.

Nagarit surrendered to police at the 25th Precinct in East Harlem, where he lives, just before 2 p.m. Thursday. He will be arraigned later Friday.

In response to a series of random subway attacks, the NYPD is beefing up subway patrols:

Dray Clark reporting live

The victim never actually saw what was inside the cloth during the Tuesday attack, but investigators said it could have been a machete or some kind of knife.

Nagarit has an arrest record dating back in 1996. His first arrest was Sept. 30. 1996, charged with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and menacing for robbing a person at gunpoint.