NYPD cops on Sunday nabbed a homeless man wanted for wounding an off-duty MTA subway cleaner and a second man in a pair of stabbing less than 24 hours apart in the Manhattan subway system .
Jamar Banks, 52, was busted two days after police identified him as a suspect in the two stabbings and asked the public’s help tracking him down. He has more than 80 prior arrests on his record, a law enforcement source said.
Banks was wanted for knifing a 31-year-old man aboard an uptown No. 2 train at the 14th St. subway station in the West Village about 9:40 a.m. Wednesday. The victim told cops his attacker walked up to him and started an argument, then pulled a knife and stabbed him in the back.
Medics took the victim to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Jamar Banks, 52, is led from the NYPD Transit District 2 headquarters in Manhattan on Sunday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
About 6:10 a.m. the next day, Banks allegedly attacked an off-duty station cleaner at the Pelham Parkway subway station, cops said.
Just as before, Banks picked a fight with the 47-year-old transit worker, then stabbed him in the back and armpit. Medics took the worker to Jacobi Medical Center in stable condition and Banks ran off.
Banks, whose address is listed as a homeless shelter on Blake Ave. in East New York, faces assault and weapon possession charges. His arraignment was pending in Manhattan Criminal Court.
MTA CEO Janno Lieber told reporters Sunday that felony crime in transit was down 12% in 2024 compared to 2019. “But high-profile crimes that are alarming New Yorkers are real,” he added. “We catch all of these maniacs. We need the criminal justice system to put them away.”
