MTA officials bashed the court system after a vagrant with two open cases was “turned loose” last month – only to be arrested again Monday for allegedly throwing a female straphanger into an incoming Manhattan train.
Markeese Brazelis, 26, who already has sex abuse and trespassing cases hanging over his head, is accused of pushing a 23-year-old woman into a moving A train in a random Monday morning attack.
The victim struck the train and fell back onto the platform, causing bruises to her face, hands, knees and shoulder. She is expected to survive, law enforcement sources said.
Michael Kemper, the MTA’s chief security officer, was outraged that Brazelis was walking the streets after two recent run-ins with police.
Markeese Brazelis, 26, is accused of pushing a woman into an incoming Manhattan train. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post“It’s beyond comprehension how this menace can be arrested two different times … only to be turned loose to cause more mayhem,” Kemper said in a statement Monday.
“When will the courthouses get the message? This can’t continue.”
The shocking attack played out at the 175th Street station shortly after 9 a.m. when Brazelis allegedly pushed the unsuspecting victim into the train as it pulled in.
The woman was struck by the train and fell back onto the platform. She was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, the sources said.
Brazelis has sex abuse and trespassing charges hanging over his head. Kevin C Downs forThe New York PostMeanwhile, Brazelis was nabbed by cops at the 181st Street station after alert bystanders took photos of the perp and showed them to cops who arrived.
He was charged with assault and first-degree reckless endangerment in the unprovoked attack, the NYPD said.
Brazelis also has at least two prior arrests — including a Jan. 19 bust for entering the prohibited area of a Bergen Street subway station, according to sources.
He was charged with trespassing in Kings County Criminal Court and released without bail on Jan. 22, court records show.
The victim was hospitalized after the attack. Christopher SadowskiOn Dec. 21, he was also charged with third-degree sexual abuse in Manhattan for allegedly groping a woman on a C train at West 50th Street and Eighth Avenue, records show.
He was released without bail that time too.
The incident is just the latest in a series of troubling Big Apple transit attacks in recent weeks.
On Sunday morning, a 25-year-old straphanger was stabbed multiple times on a Bronx subway train, with the suspect still on the loose, police said.
On Friday, a 66-year-old woman was slammed in the head with a golf club at a Financial District station, leaving her with a gash, and the brute still free.
