A Bronx man accused of smearing feces on a woman’s face in a heinous subway attack last week stuck out his tongue as he was taken out of his indictment hearing Tuesday night.
Frank Abroqua, 37, was arrested on February 28 and charged with forcible touching, threatening behavior and harassment in connection with the stomach-shaking attack.
Dressed in a brightly colored bomber jacket with the cover of Slam magazine and NBA hat, Abroqua cursed Judge Wanda Lisitra during his first appearance in the Bronx Criminal Court late Tuesday, New York Daily News reported.
Abroqua said he was tired of waiting and asked the judge to speed things up so he could be handed over to Brooklyn detectives awaiting questioning in a hate crime investigation.
The Bronx man, who was released on bail in three other cases, had to stand trial for the attack, which came just three days after new York Mayor Eric Adams has introduced a subway safety plan designed to quell violence in a crime-ridden transport system.
A video of surveillance from the station, released by the New York Police Department on Monday, shows the victim described as a 43-year-old woman sitting on a bench waiting for a train.
A man walks on the platform with a plastic bag. Suddenly he throws himself at the woman and seems to put the bag in her face.
Mayor Adams called the incident “a horrific experience that anyone can go through” at an unrelated press conference on Monday.
“Human waste or someone spitting in your face are real signs of mental health problems, and we really need to delve deeper into how we deal with these mental health problems,” the mayor added.
Frank Abroqua, 37, who was arrested for smearing feces on a woman’s face in a heinous subway attack last week, stuck out his tongue as he left court on Tuesday night with an order in Brooklyn
Abroqua is accused of forcible touching, threatening, hooliganism and harassment
Abroqua wore a brightly colored SLAM magazine bomber and NBA hat as he was escorted by the Bronx Criminal Court on Tuesday night.
The attack took place at 5:15 pm on February 21 on the south platform of East 241st Street station.
Assistant District Attorney Grace Phillips revealed on Tuesday that just before the attack, Abroqua hit the victim, asking her, “Hey, Mom, hey, Mom, why don’t you talk to me?”
When she ignored him, he got in the subway car and got out of his bag.
The video then shows Abrokwa getting out of the subway car at idle and throwing himself at the woman, smearing her with excrement.
When the woman leans forward, he walks behind her and presses the debris to the back of her head and back.
The video, released by police, offers a clear image of the suspect, who is seen wearing black pants, a large blue sweater and a hat over a fool, and carries a large bag slung over his shoulder.
Abrokwa has been arrested 44 times, accused of repeatedly hitting a 30-year-old stranger on a subway platform on the 125th St. and Lenox Ave. on January 7 and punched a 53-year-old stranger at Greyhound Station at Midtown Harbor Authority on February 5, the Daily News reported.
He was recently reported to have grabbed screwdrivers and pepper spray from a hardware store in the Bronx on Feb. 22, then pointed a screwdriver at an employee and said, “Call the police.”
In court on Tuesday night, the prosecutor tried to convince the judge that Abroqua should be detained on bail of $ 5,000 in cash or $ 15,000, claiming that the attack was part of a pattern of behavior.
But the judge said that because she had no testimony at his other arrests, she had no reason to detain him.
However, Abroqua did not leave the court free. Brooklyn detectives have detained him as a suspect in a hate crime, the Daily News reported.
An observation video from East 241st Street Subway Station in the Bronx shows a man attacking an unsuspecting woman sitting on a bench on February 21.
The suspect threw himself at the 43-year-old victim and put a plastic bag with human feces in her face.
The riot attack was carried out without visible provocation during the evening rush hour
When the woman leans forward on the bench, the attacker smashes the bag of excrement in her head
It can be seen that the attacker was standing behind the victim and smearing the bag against the victim
As part of the initiative, 1,000 police officers have been deployed on several subway lines to increase public safety.
A week after Adams’ announcement, Dr. Nina Rothschild, a scientist with the New York Department of Health, was knocked down a staircase and repeatedly hit with a hammer at Queens Plaza Subway Station, leaving her in critical condition.
Police arrested 57-year-old William Blount on Sunday in connection with the brutal attack, accusing him of attempted murder, robbery and assault.
There are a number of crimes committed by homeless people, including a break dancer who was stabbed by a homeless man earlier this month and the murder of Michel Go, in which the 40-year-old was pushed into a train in January by a homeless man with a history of mental illness.
So far this year, 320 crimes have been committed in the transit system – a 60 percent increase over the same period last year.
Crime in New York is on the rise, with homicides, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, grand thefts and hate crimes on the rise.
