STATEMENT OF JOHN V. CHIARELLO ON THE APPREHENSION OF A SUSPECT IN THE JUNE 10 SLASHING OF A TWU LOCAL 100 CONDUCTOR
JUNE 12 -- I would like to thank the NYPD for their quick work in apprehending Isaiah Thompson, 29, who has been identified as the suspect in the slashing of an NYCT Conductor at Whitlock Avenue in the Bronx. Mr. Thompson is no stranger to the NYPD. He has at least 18 arrests on his record, 17 for offenses committed within the transit system. In 2019 he was arrested twice for pushing two riders head-first into trains.
"What does it take to ensure that a perpetrator like this, once arrested, actually stays behind bars for a good long time? That's the question New Yorkers and transit workers want answered.
"Judges and politicians must make sure that recidivist transit criminals are put behind bars for serious terms -- not allowed to wreak havoc over and over again in the system.
"44,000 transit workers are enraged about the continual revolving door for transit criminals. We will be watching this case very carefully and are in no mood for the same old operating procedure. We are determined to hold public officials accountable now."