Surveillance footage was released Monday of the Boston Red Sox cap-wearing maniac who allegedly went on a slashing spree — targeting three women at random inside the Big Apple subway system.
And with the creep still on the loose, police also said Monday that they’ve “surged” dozens of cops into the subway system since the attacks.
“Response was quick and powerful,” NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said at a press briefing. “Mobilization was called and from yesterday up until literally right now.
“We just surged an additional 80-plus police officers into the transit system for an increased presence,” the chief said.
The brazen assaults began on the 4 train platform at the 86th Street and Lexington Avenue station around 4:15 p.m. Sunday, when cops said a 19-year-old woman was slashed in the right leg from behind after getting off the train.
The suspect then slashed a 48-year-old woman’s right leg as she waited on the platform before he jumped on the southbound 4 train and fled, according to police.
The NYPD on Monday released surveillance video and photos of the man sought in the random slashing of three women in separate Manhattan subway attacks on Sunday, with all three assaults coming in the span of just 20 minutes.
Less than 20 minutes later, cops said the alleged knifeman went up to a 28-year-old woman sitting on the train near the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station and slashed her left leg.
Sources told The Post the gash to the woman’s leg was so deep that a tourniquet had to be applied before she was rushed to Bellevue Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspect jumped off the train and disappeared, according to police.
MTA surveillance footage from the last attack captured the stabber fleeing the station.
The suspected Manhattan subway slasher, wearing a Boston Red Sox cap and wearing a white t-shirt, is seen jumping the turnstile at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station Sunday after slashing his third victim in the leg with a knife. DCPIPhotos and video released by the NYPD Monday show the suspect jumping the turnstile at the station, wearing a Boston Red Sox baseball cap and a white T-shirt emblazoned with a cartoon character on his chest.
He is 5-foot-8 inches tall and weighs about 220 pounds, police said.
Police were initially unsure if all three attacks were carried out by the same suspect, but confirmed on Monday that he is believed to be behind all of them.
“I’m confident that his identity will be obtained shortly,” Kemper said during Monday’s police briefing. “I’m also confident that he’ll be apprehended shortly.”
He said the added police presence in the subways had increased this year and “certainly subsequent to this,” adding that the extra cops “will remain under further notice.”
Police said the suspect sought in the random slashing of three Manhattan straphangers on Sunday is about 5-foot-8 inches tall and weighs about 220 pounds. He was seen wearing a Boston Red Sox cap and a white t-shirt. DCPIMeanwhile, the slashing prompted Big Apple pols to chime in, with one city lawmaker calling for people deemed “dangerous” to be plucked from the subways — and cautioning that more cops may not be enough.
“We have to get to the root of the problems,” said City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens). “Crimes are being committed by people with mental illness and drug addiction.
“We have to do something,” she said. “We’ve stretched our police department really thin. There are more police in the subways yet we’re still seeing these attacks.”
According to Councilman Ari Kagan (R-Brooklyn), the transit system needs “an additional 500 cops” underground — but with backup.
“Given the record number of homeless individuals and people with mental health problems in the subway system, we need teams from [the Department of Homeless Services] visiting stations and trains on a regular basis,” Kagan told The Post.
Police said three women were slashed within 20 minutes at two Manhattan subway stations on Sunday. The suspect fled after the final attack, at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station. Cops have not released surveillance footage of him. James KeivomAccording to the latest NYPD stats, overall crime in the Big Apple transit system is down nearly 8% as of June 11 this year, from 958 compared to 1,040 during the same timespan in 2022.
Felony assaults are down 7.8%, from 248 this year versus 269 last year.
The numbers are up radically over 2021, with a more than 44% jump in overall crime, although the stats are skewed by record-low ridership two years ago during the COVID pandemic shutdown.
Nonetheless, The Post reported Saturday that the number of busts for illegal knives in the subway system has spiked by 60% this year, with 572 arrests so far this year compared to 358 over the same span in 2022.
Recent high-profile incidents in the subways have also served to highlight continuing straphanger angst over transit violence.
Last week, a Manhattan grand jury indicted former Marine Daniel Penny on a manslaughter charge in the May 1 choking death of an unruly homeless man, Jordan Neely, aboard a subway train.
While Neely’s family is calling for justice, Penny claims he was protecting other straphangers from a potentially violent outburst.
Also last week, Jordan Williams, 20, was arrested after fatally stabbing ex-con Devictor Ouedraogo to death after a scuffle on a Brooklyn J train in a hauntingly similar incident.
Williams, who was released without bail, allegedly stabbed Ouedraogo after the ex-con slugged him and his girlfriend and harassed other straphangers on the train.
Cops are asking anyone with information about the suspect and the incidents to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-8477, or online at crimestopers.nypdonline.org.
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods and Tina Moore
