NYC subway rider feet amputated after boyfriend, Christian Valdez pushes woman onto tracks during argument as man fled scene before eventual arrest. Incident is latest in escalating violent crime in public transport and comes days after the National Guard being deployed.
A 29 year old NYC woman lost both her feet after her boyfriend allegedly pushed her onto the subway tracks — where she was struck by a train in lower Manhattan.
At the time of the couple’s altercation, a southbound 3 train was pulling into the Fulton Street Station at Chambers Street Saturday at 10:25 a.m. when the assailant, identified as career criminal, Christian Valdez, allegedly pushed her on to the tracks, leading to the woman to be hit by the oncoming train and stuck between two cars.
‘She didn’t deserve this …’
Valdez a repeat offender first made headlines in 2017 when the then homeless man was charged with stabbing a woman and her 3-year-old daughter and then threatening to toss the girl off a Bronx fire escape.
Valdez and his girlfriend over the weekend were embroiled in a shouting match when things took a turn for the worse.
‘They were arguing and he pushed her,’ a police source told the nypost.
The incident led to the woman losing both her feet.
The MTA was forced to cut the power to a rail so she could be rescued. The un-identified woman was taken to Bellevue Hospital where she remained in critical condition.
One witness said he served in the Iraq war and used his training, which included emergency medical response, to try and help.
‘So I went down just to see if there was any way I could contribute,’ the witness going by William told the nypost. ‘And when I went down I saw her between two cars.’
He tried talking to the woman to keep her calm.
‘She said something to the effect that she didn’t deserve this,’ the witness said. ‘She held a part of her flesh to show me that she might have lost her leg.’
William stated staying with the victim for about five minutes until police arriving.
‘I hope she’s good,’ the witness said. ‘She’s really strong. She told me she was going to the spa.’
Less than an hour later, a man jumped onto the tracks in Midtown and was fatally struck by a train, cops said. The fatality happened at Seventh Avenue and West 53rd Street around 11:30 a.m., the nypost reported.
Straphanger hit by subway, loses both her feet after boyfriend pushes her onto tracks during argument: cops https://t.co/xO12w3Q1BC pic.twitter.com/kJWiYZ0vEo
— New York Post (@nypost) March 9, 2024
Boyfriend arrested, rising violent crime on NYC Subways
Valdez who fled the scene was arrested later that evening at about 9:35 p.m. at the corner of Jay and Willoughby streets in Brooklyn, when he went to meet a parole officer but was instead met by NYPD. He was charged with attempted murder and felony assault.
A prior description issued for the suspect described him as a heavy-set Latino male wearing a blue shirt and jeans as well as a dark colored jacket.
Valdez has four past assault arrests on his record, police sources said, and public records show he’s still on parole for a Bronx attempted assault conviction from 2020. He was sentenced to up to eight years in prison in that case but was released to parole in January 2023.
The weekend episode comes as NY Governor Hoschul this week deploying the National Guard onto NYC Subway along with new security cameras and bag screening and the deployment of undercover police in a bid to address rising violent crimes within the public transport system.
Police have counted 97 felony assaults in the subway system this year as of Sunday, 13 more than in the same period of 2023.
‘There’s a psychological impact. People worry they could be next,’ Hochul said during a press conference earlier in the week.
