The head of a major NYC transit union is offering up a reward for information leading to the arrest of those who stole an R train in Queens and took it for a joyride last week.
According to law enforcement sources, the incident occurred at around 10 p.m. on Jan. 25 near the 71st-Continental Avenue station in Forest Hills. A Citizen App report said the train was taken from a Jamaica Yard Facility. After the suspects took the train, they drove it at speeds well over 30 mph, the report said, though it is unclear just how far the train went.
How the suspects were able to get into the train is also a mystery, but according to TWU Local 100 members, the type of R160 cars used on the train are “vulnerable to break-ins” and in need of better security.
“These are new technology trains which TWU Local 100 has warned NYC Transit are vulnerable to break-ins,” said John V. Chiarello, interim president of the union.
Chiarello, who took over the helm of the union after its previous president, Richard Davis, resigned on Jan. 25 amid allegations of sexual misconduct, said more safety measures need to be installed to protect transit personnel and riders.
“Any breach of security on our rolling stock affects not only NYC Transit personnel but the riding public as well,” he said. “We are all at risk – trains in active service with members of the public on board can also be compromised. Because train keys have been available to bad actors like these youngsters, we are fighting an uphill battle.”
On Wednesday, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber called Saturday’s incident “unacceptable” and was a result of a security failure.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m burned about this—for our riders and all of us,” he said. “Failure of security, failure of the supervision and monitoring process that needs to be able to stop a train that’s operating that’s not supposed to be operating.”
He added that the MTA has been “moving forward” with fixing the locks on old subway trains, but more needs to be done.
“It’s also time, when we are buying these new cars, to have modern ways of controlling anyone operating them,” Lieber said. “I am now making sure as we buy new subway cars we have technology that is not just a key and a lock and hopefully a yard with some barbed wire around it.”
On Thursday, TWU Local 100 announced it would match a $3,500 reward being offered by the NYPD for information leading to the joyriders’ arrest.
Meanwhile, no arrests have been made, and no injuries have been reported from the incident, police sources said.
MTA spokesperson Eugene Resnick said NYC Transit is working with the NYPD on the investigation into the crime.
Anyone with information regarding this robbery can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
