Subway push suspect in Pennywise hoodie arraigned on eight charges
Aaron Walker, 28, accused of shoving an off-duty officer onto the tracks at the 14th Street/Third Avenue station, wore a Pennywise hoodie during his first court appearance.
A homeless man accused of shoving an off-duty New York City police officer onto subway tracks wore a Pennywise the Clown hoodie at his first court appearance Wednesday, authorities said.
The attack unfolded Tuesday night at the 14th Street/Third Avenue station on the L line in Manhattan’s East Village, when Aaron Walker, 28, allegedly punched the 24-year-old officer in the back of the head, grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him onto the tracks as a southbound train approached. Police said the two men then fought on the platform and on the tracks, and both ended up back on the platform before Walker jumped onto the northbound tracks and headed toward the 14th Street-Union Square station. Responding officers found Walker riding an uptown L train and arrested him at the scene.
Walker was arraigned on eight charges, including attempted murder, attempted assault, attempted reckless endangerment, two counts of criminal trespassing and two counts of disorderly conduct, according to the New York Police Department. He did not enter a plea as prosecutors outlined the charges, and the arraignment occurred while he remained in police custody.
Court records show that Walker has 18 prior arrests, many occurring in recent months. The most recent occurred Sunday, when he was seen smoking a cigarette on a train in Brooklyn, which police said led them to connect him to another subway assault under investigation. In that prior incident from Sept. 13, 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 taken to the hospital in stable condition. For that offense, prosecutors charged him with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor that is not bail-eligible, and he was released under supervised release.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had in fact sought supervised release in that case. Records indicate Walker’s pattern of releases on non-bail-eligible offenses has limited the use of bail in several cases, enabling his repeated posting for release rather than detention.
In addition to the subway-related scores of incidents, Walker was arrested last week for allegedly stealing clothes and a home decor item from a Target on Greenwich Street near Park Place in Tribeca, according to the New York Post. He faced petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property charges and was released on his own recognizance pending further proceedings. Earlier in the summer, he was arrested in both July and August for stealing vinyl records from Barnes & Noble stores in Brooklyn and Manhattan; those charges were not deemed bail-eligible, contributing to his repeated releases.
Manhattan prosecutors had pressed for supervised release in at least some of the prior cases, and the mayhem at the East Village station has renewed questions about how bail and release policies intersect with repeat offenders who attract serious criminal charges. The February 14th Street/Third Avenue incident occurred while the officer was returning from-duty security work for the United Nations General Assembly, and the officer sustained minor injuries to the head and body in the melee.
As the investigation continues, authorities emphasized that the suspect remains in custody pending further court actions and that prosecutors will pursue the eight counts leveled in connection with the Tuesday night assault. The case underscores ongoing concerns about subway safety and the challenges courts face in addressing repeat offenses within the city’s bail framework.