A 35-year-old Brooklyn man has been arrested following a knife attack on a homeless man on the subway, which saw the pair wrestling on the tracks and left the victim needing stitches.
Anthony Melendez, from East New York, was arrested on Sunday following Wednesday’s attack.
He was caught on camera grappling with 52-year-old Angel Trujillo before running away.
Melendez has been charged with assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.
He was arrested in April in Ozone Park, Queens, for allegedly knocking a police officer to the ground when the officer attempted to arrest him for criminal mischief.
He was also arrested for a domestic assault in 2020.
Melendez (left, in the Nike hoodie) had left his cell phone and earbuds on the ground of the subway platform. Trujillo, wearing orange sneakers, walks past and apparently steps on Melendez’s headphones
The attack on Trujillo is the latest in a string of violent attacks that have sent subway crime soaring.
Stabbings and slashings in transit are up 70 percent compared to last year.
‘It’s crazy, so many things are happening on the train,’ Trujillo told the Daily News,
‘The cops show up after the incident happens — so I tried to deal with it myself, and I got stabbed.’
NYPD statistics show that 201 felony assaults had taken place in the subways as of May 1, a 25 percent increase in attacks from the same time last year.
Melendez called after Trujillo, holding what appeared to be a boxcutter in his left hand
In the surveillance footage of the attack, Trujillo stepped on one of the earbuds as he walked by, leading Melendez to immediately call after him and pull out a boxcutter.
Trujillo approached Melendez, and the two exchanged words.
The two began to fight, and Trujillo threw a jacket at Melendez, as a means of self defense.
A grocery cart of Melendez’s possessions was knocked over.
The pair wrestle their way up the platform as bystanders back away, then when Trujillo begins to flee Melendez tackles him and they both topple over the edge of the platform and onto the subway tracks below.
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After exchanging words, Melendez slashed at Trujillo with the boxcutter and the fight began
The fight spread up the platform, scattering the suspect’s possessions and bystanders alike
The fight continues down on the rails before the footage cuts off.
NY Daily news spoke to Trujillo, who said he forgives his attacker, despite being left with a gash down the front of his torso and injuries to his ear, both requiring multiple stitches.
‘I’m not angry at the guy,’ Trujillo said.
‘I forgive him because I’m also homeless.
‘And I know a lot of people living that life, and it’s hard.’
Trujillo said the fight started because of the attacker’s headphones.
When Trujillo attempted to flee, Melendez pursued him and tackled him to the ground
The pair rolled over into the subway tracks where the fight continued before the footage ended
The NYPD posted about the attack on their CrimeStoppers Twitter account on Sunday, and Melendez was arrested shortly after
‘I told him, ‘Why would you leave your phone on the floor of a train station? It’s the city, everyone is always bumping into everyone. Why would you leave your items there?’
‘I was scared a train was going to come.
‘I wasn’t scared to get electrocuted because we didn’t fall by [the third rail]. But I was scared a train would hit us.’
Trujillo was on the way to visit his sister, a diabetic on dialysis, with a disabled son, when he was attacked.
‘I have a family that can help me.
‘But this guy was a kid, in his 30s,’ he added.
‘I forgive him because he’s probably mentally ill.’
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