NEW YORK — A man on a New York City subway was burned when a fellow passenger doused him with flaming liquid, setting his shirt on fire.
The attack happened Saturday afternoon on a train at the Houston Street station in Lower Manhattan, police sources told CBS New York.
Officials said one suspect, a 49-year-old man, was in custody. Nothing was said about a possible motive.
The victim, 23, recovered in hospital. He was listed in stable condition.
The suspect was arrested shortly after fleeing the station. Police said he also stole a woman’s cell phone after she dropped it at a turnstile on her way out.
Police did not announce any charges against the man and it was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney to respond to the allegations.
NYC is cracking down on subway crimes
While violent crimes are rare in the New York City subway system, which serves about 3 million passengers a day, it has some high-profile attacksincluding the death of a man who was pushed onto the tracks in East Harlem in March.
Earlier this year, Governor Kathy Hochul made this announcement hundreds of National Guard members would enter the subway system to increase safety. The NYPD said an additional 800 officers would be deployed across the subway crackdown on tariff evasion.
Around the same time, city officials announced plans to use it weapon detection technology in the subway after they said transit crime was up 4% in 2024 compared to 2023.
