Homeless career criminal accused of shoving off-duty NYPD officer onto subway tracks

An off-duty New York City police officer was shoved onto subway tracks during an attack Tuesday evening at the Third Avenue station on the L line in Manhattan, authorities said. Aaron Walker, 28, is charged with attempted murder in the incident, in which he allegedly punched the officer in the back of the head, grabbed his shirt and toppled him onto the southbound tracks. The 24-year-old officer was hospitalized. The attacker then jumped onto the northbound tracks and fled toward the 14th Street-Union Square station, but was located on an uptown L train and taken into custody, police said.

Walker had been released from custody about two days earlier, law enforcement officials said, and his arrest history includes dozens of prior encounters with police. Prosecutors say he had just been released on supervised release after another subway assault in Brooklyn. In that case, the top charge was third-degree assault, a misdemeanor not eligible for bail, and he was ordered into supervised release at arraignment, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. He was also charged with third-degree attempted assault and second-degree harassment, the complaint shows.

Authorities also catalog a September 13 unprovoked assault on a transit rider. On that date, Walker allegedly sat next to a 22-year-old man on a C train at Fulton Street and Kingston Avenue and punched him multiple times in the face and head. The victim was hospitalized in stable condition. The top charge in that case was third-degree assault, a misdemeanor not eligible for bail, and he was granted supervised release at the Sunday arraignment. He was also charged with third-degree attempted assault and second-degree harassment, according to the criminal complaint.

Separately, on Aug. 29 he was arrested for allegedly stealing items from a Barnes & Noble store on East 17th Street near Union Square, charged with third-degree burglary, and released on his own recognizance at arraignment. In July, prosecutors say he stole eight vinyl records from a Barnes & Noble in Cobble Hill and was released on supervised release after those charges were deemed not bail-eligible. Court records show additional incidents in which he was tied to trespass notices at Barnes & Noble locations dating to December 2022, which prosecutors said he violated while under supervision. On Sept. 17, he was arrested for allegedly stealing three clothing items and one home decor item from a Target on Greenwich Street near Park Place in Tribeca and released on his own recognizance at arraignment.

The latest case, in which Walker faces counts including attempted murder, attempted reckless endangerment, two counts of criminal trespass and two counts of disorderly conduct in addition to earlier charges, remains under investigation as prosecutors coordinate with police. Officials noted that the suspect was approaching the end of a supervised-release period when the incident occurred, a factor that has fed into broader discussions about how non-bail-eligible offenses are managed in the city’s justice system and how transit safety is safeguarded. The officer involved was reportedly returning home from security work for the United Nations General Assembly, according to sources.