NYC subway conductor slashed in neck at station, suspect at large

A New York City subway conductor was slashed in the neck early Thursday when he stuck his head out of the cabin window during a stop at a station in Brooklyn, authorities said.

The unidentified suspect used an unknown sharp object to slash the 59-year-old conductor one time in the neck just before 3:40 a.m. at the Rockaway Avenue Station in Brownsville, the NYPD said. The suspect then fled the subway and remains on the loose.

The victim was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where he was in stable condition, according to authorities.

Authorities described the suspect as a male in his 30s with a dark complexion, about 6 feet tall and wearing a blue jacket.

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A suspect remains on the run after slashing a subway conductor at a New York City subway station early Thursday. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images, File)

The Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 identified the victim as Alton Scott, a conductor with 24 years of service. The union statement said that Scott received 34 stitches to close the "gaping wound" in his neck.

TWU Union President Richard Davis called the act an "attempted murder" and called on the city to step up enforcement to protect transit workers from "heinous crimes and brutal assaults," stating that "enough is enough."

"The wound on Mr. Scott's neck is too close to his carotid artery," Davis said in the statement. "We're at a breaking point where we can't do our jobs safely. The city is in crisis, and the target is on our backs."

The slashing comes as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is stepping up its "no-standing" pilot program to increase the safety and security of subway conductors.

Four-foot rubber stanchions were installed around the "no-standing" zones at the 125th Street subway station in Harlem last week, MTA officials said. (Metropolitan Transportation Authority )

Last week, MTA crews installed 4-foot rubber poles on the "no-standing" portions of the platform at the 125th Street subway station in Harlem that are directly adjacent to the train conductor’s cabs when trains stop.

MTA officials hope the stanchions will prevent attacks on conductors.

MTA officials hope the addition of the rubber poles will help prevent attacks on conductors. (Metropolitan Transportation Authority )

"We hope that adding additional visibility elements create a more well-defined zone of safety and security around our hard-working subway conductors to ensure they can do their work without fear of being attacked on the platform while they simply try to do their jobs," said Demetrius Crichlow, a senior vice president of the New York City Transit Department of Subways.

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Transit crimes are up 13% compared with this time last year, WABC-TV reports.

So far this year, three homicides have been reported in the New York City subway system.

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On Tuesday, police said three suspects were arrested in connection to the killing of a man on a subway car last week. That shooting came soon after a 35-year-old man was killed and five others were wounded during a shooting at a different subway station in the Bronx earlier this month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.