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The man suspected of randomly shoving a woman into the side of a moving subway train in a terrifying attack over the weekend was arrested Tuesday morning — with the help of an eagle-eyed New York Post reader, police officials said.

Kamal Semrade, 39, was charged with attempted murder and assault in the chilling May 21 assault that left 35-year-old straphanger Emine Ozsoy in desperate need of spinal surgery, cops said.

He’s accused of pushing the victim’s head against a departing subway car at the Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street station on the Upper East Side around 6 a.m. Sunday.

Police on Sunday evening released surveillance images of the alleged attacker — who is believed to be homeless — showing him holding what appears to be a cup of coffee while standing or walking on the platform. 

Cops then got lead on the suspect after a Post reader sent in a tip to NYPD Crime Stoppers saying he knew who the man was, according to  NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig.

Semrade had allegedly jumped a turnstile before he launched into what cops believe was an unprovoked attack, Essig said Tuesday. He noted police have not yet been able to speak to the victim, who was hospitalized and listed in critical condition Monday.


  Kamal Semrade was charged with attempted murder and assault for the terrifying assault. NYPD Kamal Semrade was charged with attempted murder and assault for the terrifying assault. NYPD

  Kamal Semrade, 39, was charged with attempted murder and assault in the incident. G.N.Miller/NYPost Kamal Semrade, 39, was charged with attempted murder and assault in the incident. G.N.Miller/NYPost

  The woman was hospitalized in critical condition following the attack. G.N.Miller/NYPost The woman was hospitalized in critical condition following the attack. G.N.Miller/NYPost

“She didn’t even see it coming,” Nancy Marrero, a Long Island City postal worker who witnessed the shocking incident, told The Post Monday.

“With open palms he just mushed her head — not her body — into the train. She just tumbled, just kept spinning because the train kept hitting her.”

The victim kept asking, “Am I going to die?” as she lay injured at the station — her face gashed to the bone, Marrero recalled.

“You could see the white inside, that’s how bad it was,” the postal worker said of the resulting gash that laced its way down the woman’s bloody face. “She said, ‘I don’t feel my arms. I feel like they’re broken.’

“She just kept asking me, ‘Am I going to die?’”


  The attack occurred at the Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street station on the Upper East Side around 6 a.m. Sunday. G.N.Miller/NYPost The attack occurred at the Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street station on the Upper East Side around 6 a.m. Sunday. G.N.Miller/NYPost

Authorities brought Ozsoy to Weill Cornell Medical Center, where doctors diagnosed her with a spinal fracture and Essig said she underwent an eight-hour surgery. 

A GoFundMe page set up Monday to collect donations for her medical bills, however, noted she was showing signs of progress.

“Doctors initially informed us she had a slim chance of recovering movement below the neck. In just one day, she challenged that prognosis by moving her arms,” the page states.

“It is a huge step, but her road to recovery will be long and challenging. She’s a fighter and is already fighting to recover. She will get there, but she needs everyone’s help.”

The page adds: “Emine is a source of joy as a friend, colleague, and human being. She’s artistic, lighthearted, witty, and, above all, someone we consider family.”

Semrade has one prior run-in with cops for drinking alcohol in public.

When cops picked him up, he asked for an attorney once he was shown surveillance photos of him and the victim.

Semrade was remanded into custody at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court early Wednesday morning on the attempted murder and assault charges.

His Legal Aid lawyer, Rebecca Heinsen, invoked the high-profile case of Daniel Penny – who is free on $100,000 bail in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely – when trying to petition the judge for some leniency. 

“There’s absolutely no reason to remain here, and I’ve asked you also to avoid setting an unreasonably high bail as well,” Heinsen told Judge Lumarie Moldanado Cruz. “And I asked you to consider all your options. He’s eligible for supervised release.”

“This District Attorney’s office is capable of making bail requests that are reasonable – even in the most heinous of crimes,” Heinsen said before citing the Neely case. 

“My client is entitled to the same presumption of innocence, the same ability to fight the case from the outside,” she said. 

NYC Transit President Richard Davey lauded the NYPD for the arrest of the alleged attacker, saying it would “start delivering justice to the victim, who is in our thoughts at this terrible time.”

Additional reporting by Steven Vago, Tina Moore and Joe Marino

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