The New York City subway rider who survived being bludgeoned with a hammer over the weekend has said that in a matter of seconds he found himself bleeding on the tracks, with a train fast approaching the station.
Rakesh Sharma, 44, was pulled to safety by good Samaritans a minute before the first car of the train reached the Union Square station on Saturday night.
Jamar Newton, a 41-year-old homeless man from Brooklyn, was arrested the following today in connection with the hammer attack, and also for allegedly stealing a $200 gold chain from 18-year-old Noel Rosado, who then gave chase and helped police apprehend the suspect.
Newton was previously arrested in April on five misdemeanor charges, including menacing, petit larceny, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property, but was released without bail, court records show
He was then arrested again in late June and charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, but was released.
Caught: The NYPD have arrested 41-year-old Jamar Newton (left) for allegedly bashing a subway rider with a hammer and then stealing this $200 gold chain from Noel Rosado, 18 (right), on a platform Sunday
Sharma, from Manhattan, told the New York Daily News that he was standing on the northbound N/Q/R/W platform at around 9pm on Saturday and waiting for a train to take him home after a shopping trip when he caught Newton's eye.
Police said Newton did not like the way Sharma was looking at him. He was quoted as telling the victim: 'Don't look at me. If you come any closer, I'm going to hit you.'
Sharma said he was merely scanning his surroundings when Newton began shouting and charging at him 'like a crazy man.'
Not wanting to get into an argument, Sharma said he averted his eyes and tried to walk away, but he said the stranger continued yelling at him. The 44-year-old said he then folded his arms and decided to ignore Newton.
‘The next thing I knew I was on the tracks, blood was oozing from my head and the train lights were in the distance,’ Sharma recounted to the news outlet.
Surveillance footage shows the suspect take something out of his bag and twirl it around as he walks across the platform, where he seems to strike another person, off-screen.
He was then seen on surveillance video calmly walking out of the subway station.
Sharma speculated that his attacker pushed him onto the tracks because he knew there was a train arriving in a minute.
The victim recalled seeing the lead car of the train about 300 feet away while he was bleeding on the tracks.
‘He knew the train was coming,’ Sharma told the Daily News. ‘I’m pretty sure of that, I’m guessing he strategically hit me then because he knew the train would come.’
After being pulled out of harm's way by bystanders, Sharma was taken to a hospital to be treated for his head wound. He said that he still suffers from severe headaches and cannot move his neck.
Sharma said he has lived New York City since 2014 and has always relied on the subway to get around, but he never thought he would be brutally attacked during his commute.
Police say surveillance footage shows Newton man twirling an object - believed to be a hammer - in his hand as he walks over to a man off-screen on the other side of the platform at Union Square on Saturday night
Less than 24 hours after the hammer attack, Noel Rosado, from The Bronx, was standing on the northbound D train platform at the 125th Street subway station in Harlem with a female companion when Newton allegedly walked up to him and snatched a gold chain from his neck.
Speaking to the Daily News, Rosado said Newton than displayed a hammer and asked him: ‘Want me to take more things from you?’
Rosado led the girl he was with upstairs to safety, and by the time he returned to the platform, the hammer-wielding thief had fled.
Determined to track down the perpetrator, Rosado said he travelled uptown to fetch his friends and then led the group back to the 125th Street station, where they spotted Newton there 'just chilling.'
When Rosado and his friends surrounded Newton, the man jumped onto the tracks and ran into the train tunnel toward the 116th Street station, according to Rosado.
The teen and his companions made their way to the 116th Street station but could not find Newton, so they returned to 125th Street, where Rosado said he ultimately came face-to-face with the suspected crook.
‘He pulls out a hammer,’ Rosado recalled to the outlet. ‘Me and my four friends were waiting for an opportunity to get him without the hammer. We started getting close and I got his bag.'
As soon as Newton dropped his hammer, Rosado chased him down and hurled him to the ground.
Police officers who happened to be in the vicinity saw the commotion and stepped in, with one of the officers allegedly throwing Rosado against a car to stop him from attacking Newton.
The 18-year-old said he does not blame the police for manhandling him.
'They didn't know what was happening,' he said. 'They thought we were just jumping an old man.'
Investigators quickly realized that Newton was being sought in connection with Saturday's
