10-year prison sentence for man who shoved woman onto subway tracks
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- A man who was indicted for shoving a woman onto the subway tracks at the Chambers Street station has been sentenced.
The victim came face-to-face for the first time with the man who shoved her six feet down onto the subway tracks during the sentencing hearing.
The incident happened two years ago, but the 36-year-old mother is still visibly shaken and sobbed while addressing the court Monday afternoon.
Yanan Xu was in the courtroom with her husband, both recent immigrants who arrived from China just three months ago, to chase the American dream.
In August 2023, Xu was walking on the platform at the Chambers Street station around 11 p.m. when, out of nowhere, 43-year-old Samuel Junker came up from behind and shoved her on the tracks.
Luckily, there was no train coming at the time.
Bystanders rushed to save the 36-year-old woman before any oncoming trains approached.
According to court documents and statements made on the record, and as admitted in the defendant's guilty plea, on August 29, 2023, at approximately 11:00 p.m., Junker trailed the woman into the subway station near West Broadway and Chambers Street.
He followed her through the turnstile, down the stairs and onto the subway platform. While on the platform, Junker came up behind the woman and shoved her onto the tracks, police said.
The woman suffered a broken leg, bruising and swelling. Junker immediately fled the station, police said.
Junker was arrested in Lower Manhattan on August 31, 2023, after an officer recognized him from a wanted flyer. He was wearing the same clothes from the incident.
At the time of this incident, the city was dealing with the post pandemic crime surge and a number of high profile shoving incidents.
Junker, who has a history of mental illness, looked down the whole time Xu was talking in court.
During her victim impact statement, she told the court that her mental recovery has been far worse than her physical recovery.
"The act of violence tears away my sense of security and safety, that I am not able to be like anyone else at ease," she said. "I only hope everyone can understand my pain, and please, I ask the courtto punish the person who assaulted me, to let him pay the price."
Junker was sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
"Samuel Junker has been held accountable for shoving an innocent woman - a wife and mother - onto the tracks of a Lower Manhattan subway station in a brutal, unprovoked attack," said District Attorney Bragg.
He also directly addressed the victim in court.
"My apologies run deeper than the ocean for how sorry I am to this innocent person," he said. "There is not a day that goes by that I don't pray about how sorry I am for what I did. Amen.'"
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