Probe into why suspect in 76-year-old's fatal subway shove was released from psychiatric hold
Police say the person of interest was picked up by officers hours before the attack
CHELSEA, Manhattan (WABC) -- The man charged with murder in the fatal shoving of a 76-year-old man at a Chelsea subway station was released from psychiatric hold hours earlier, police say.
Police say their suspect, 32-year-old Rhamell Burke, came up behind the victim, 76-year-old Ross Falzone, and pushed him down the 18th Street station stairs just after 9:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Officers found Falzone unconscious and unresponsive. Officials say he suffered a traumatic brain injury, a fractured spine and a fractured rib and was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital just before 3 a.m. on Friday.
Police say the shoving appeared to be unprovoked, and the death is being investigated as a homicide.
They also revealed that Burke had been picked up by police hours earlier outside an East Side police precinct.
Officers encountered him acting erratically outside the 17th Precinct stationhouse on East 51st Street at around 3:30 p.m.
Police say he pulled a stick from the garbage and held it as he approached the officers.
One officer defused the situation, an interaction captured on his body camera and reviewed by police officials.
Burke was taken to Bellevue Hospital in a police cruiser, arriving at 3:39 p.m. He underwent a psychiatric evaluation at the hospital and was released later that afternoon.
Detectives say Burke shoved Falzone to his death about five hours after his release from Bellevue.
Burke has had four prior arrests since February, including for assault on a Port Authority police officer and for assault of a stranger, for which he was on supervised release.
In the wake of the attack, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced an investigation into Bellevue's handling of the person of interest involved in the attack on Falzone.
"New Yorkers deserve answers. That is why I've directed NYC Health + Hospitals to conduct both an immediate investigation on what steps should have been taken to prevent this tragedy and a comprehensive review of their psychiatric evaluation and discharge protocols," Mamdani said.
According to authorities, Falzone lived on the Upper West Side.
Eyewitness News spoke with his sister, Donna Falzone, on Friday.
"He wouldn't hurt anybody. He's a bag of bones. He's not even 100 pounds," she said.
Donna Falzone said she had just celebrated her birthday in Manhattan with her brother and was planning another trip from Pennsylvania to visit him when she got the horrifying news.
"There's no amount of anger that we can express, and shock," she said. "I mean, to get a call like that at 4 in the morning, you know, just, you know, to find out your brother's minding his own business, three witnesses, and push down the steps and left for dead."
She said her brother had a doctorate degree from Columbia University.
"He's a retired special education teacher, and a great guy, great brother and uncle," Donna Falzone said.
As for Burke, he was arrested for the subway shove on Friday at Penn Station, on the northbound C and E line platform, around 3:30 p.m.
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts on the go
* Download our connected TV app
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
