A homeless man was sentenced for pushing a woman onto a Union Square subway platform back in November 2020, prosecutors announced Thursday,
Aditya Vemulapati pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the second degree on June 9, 2022. He was sentenced to serve eight years in state prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.
“Today’s sentence makes clear that we will hold accountable those who cause harm in our subway system,” said District Attorney Bragg. “We will remain focused on those who harm straphangers just trying to commute to home or to work.”
According to court documents and by his own admission, at 8:29 a.m. on Nov. 19, 2020 Vemulapati waited for a train to enter the Union Square subway station on the uptown 4/5 line, and once the train arrived, he pushed the victim, a 40-year-old woman, onto the track in front of the oncoming train. The victim, who is a stranger to Vemulapati, landed between the track and several train cars passed over her.
An MTA worker radioed for help and the victim was rescued by firefighters from under the train. She was treated for her injuries at Bellevue Hospital. Video footage of the incident was later posted on the Citizen App.
Vemulapti was arrested that same day and confessed to trying to kill the victim.
