The suspect arrested for beating a stranger to death in a Brooklyn subway station confessed to the beatdown, saying he didn’t like the way the victim looked at him after the victim held open a subway gate for the attacker, police sources said Wednesday.
The 25-year-old suspect, who according to his Instagram account is an artist who sells his paintings on the street, was nabbed in Times Square, armed with a sword, hours after the shocking Tuesday afternoon attack.
The attacker got angry with the 50-year-old victim, a security guard, because he didn’t like the way the guard looked at him after the guard held a gate open for the suspect inside the Jay St.-MetroTech subway station in Downtown Brooklyn, the sources said.
After being arrested the suspect said he didn’t need anyone helping him and believed the guard was laughing at him, according to police sources.
The victim, whose name has not yet been released, didn’t stand a chance in the confrontation, the killer assaulting him with punches and about a dozen kicks to he head. He was also seen on video rifling through the victim’s pockets shortly before fleeing the scene about 3:05 p.m.
Medics rushed the victim to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he died about 90 minutes later. His name has not been released.
The NYPD quickly sent surveillance photos of the suspect, clad in a “Bronx Zoo” T-shirt and last seen on a Bronx-bound No. 2 train, to every cop’s smart phone. They also released the images to the public and asked the public’s help identifying and tracking down the suspect.
Several hours later, police responded to a call of a man with a knife at the Target in Times Square, at W. 42nd St. and Eighth Ave. They found the suspect nearby, at W. 42nd St. and Broadway, and he was arrested, with police recovering his sword.
The suspect has 33 prior arrests, sources said and was wanted in two other crimes for which details were not immediately available. He lives in the Bronx.
On July 2 he was arrested for a June 24 assault in which he punched a 66-year-old man at a theater in Chelsea, records show. That case is pending.
Transit crime in New York City so far this year is down 4.3%. Through Sunday, there have been 1,598 crimes in the transit system this year compared with 1,669 by the same point last year. Murders are down, with three slaying so far this year in transit through Sunday compared to eight by this time last year.
