The man who allegedly pepper-sprayed a young mother and her baby on an M train in Queens will remain behind bars until he posts bail, authorities said.
Cops arrested Edward Vargas, 34, on Thursday. He is accused of dousing a 25-year-old woman and her 11-month-old baby girl with pepper spray, hitting them in the face and arm, last Friday on a southbound M train as the train approached the Court Square-23rd St. station in Long Island City, police said.
“It is particularly outrageous when our children are attacked,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “As alleged, the defendant chose to retaliate against the victims with pepper spray because he did not get what he wanted. Families have every right to use the subway safely without fear of random violence.”
The young woman told police that that Vargas approached her when she was holding her daughter waiting for the train at the 36th St. M and R subway station and asked to borrow her cellphone, according to the criminal complaint against him.
But when the woman ignored him, Vargas followed her onto the train and sat right across from her and her baby before pulling a pepper-spray canister from a black bag and spraying her and her little girl with the noxious substance, causing the baby to cry, the complaint states. Afterward, mother and child were left with a burning sensation to the eyes, difficulty breathing and skin irritation, according to the complaint.
Vargas, who lives in Astoria, was charged with two counts of assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child, according to court documents.
A judge ordered him held on $50,000 cash bail and $150,000 bond. His next court appearance is July 1.
In other recent subway mayhem, a man arrested for allegedly trying to kiss a female straphanger’s toes while exposing himself at a Greenwich Village subway station was released one day after being nabbed by police. Dexter Betancourt, 37, was granted supervised release after the offenses were deemed not bail eligible.
