Three teenagers who were apprehended Friday after a series of slashing attacks within subway stations in Manhattan that morning have been booked on criminal charges, police announced Saturday morning.
Taquarious Soto-Burgos, 19, of Duryea Place in Brooklyn and Joseph Foster, 18, of Seward Avenue in the Bronx were both charged with robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. An unidentified 16-year-old boy was also charged with second-degree assault, along with robbery and weapons possession.
Law enforcement sources said the trio attacked four men within about 12 minutes, between 4:26 and 4:37 a.m. on May 14, on board the 4 line between Union Square and Astor Place.
In the first incident, cops said, they attacked a 44-year-old man on board a Downtown-bound 4 train at Union Square, slicing the left side of his face with a sharp object before departing the train at Union Square.
The victim was brought to Bellevue Hospital for treatment of his injury.
Police learned a short time later that the crooks had also attacked a 44-year-old man on the 4 train during a robbery attempt. One of the suspects sliced the victim’s left cheek with a sharp object, while his cohorts took his money and cellphone.
After departing the train, law enforcement sources said, a suspect tossed the victim’s cellphone onto the tracks.
The victim was treated for his injuries at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital.
Just eight minutes later, police said, the three teens confronted two men, ages 40 and 41, on board a southbound 4 train at Astor Place. The trio punched the victims repeatedly, and one of the suspects slashed the 40-year-old victim across his nose.
Following the assault, the suspects departed the train and fled the scene. Both victims were also taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment.
As police officials announced Friday afternoon, the three teenagers, and a fourth individual, were picked up just before noon at the 79th Street station on the 1 line on the Upper West Side. They matched descriptions and images of the perpetrators that police obtained soon after the three assaults.
