Police cuffed on Thursday the man who allegedly shoved a senior onto an Upper East Side subway track earlier this week in a shocking, unprovoked assault.
Derrick Mills, 49, of the Upper West Side stands accused of brutally shoving a 74-year-old male straphanger onto the Downtown-bound tracks of the 6 line at the 68 Street-Hunter College subway station just after midnight on Sept. 12. Eyewitnesses said Mills had been muttering and yelling to himself before allegedly accusing the victim of staring at him, then going on the attack.
“He’s approached, unprovoked, by a male who’s speaking to himself. He gets accused of staring at the male, and he’s spontaneously just shoved onto the tracks,” Assistant Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said earlier this week.
Police report that the man fell a great distance before directly landing back-first on the tracks. As Mills purportedly made his getaway, an MTA worker was able to quickly step in and pull the man back onto the platform before the next arriving train.
While the injuries initially seemed minor — resulting in mere cuts and bruises — when he was rushed to Weill Cornell Medical Center, it was later determined that the victim suffered a spinal fracture, along with rib and pelvic injuries.
Using surveillance video, Chief Kenny and his detectives were able to link Mills to other attacks in the area and began a search for the assailant before he could do any more harm.
A source with knowledge of the investigation reported that cops received a tip regarding Mills’ whereabouts after authorities released an image of him to the public. Police swiftly made the arrest on Thursday.
As Mills was being led away in handcuffs to his arraignment by detectives, he seemingly admitted his crime to amNewYork Metro when peppered with questions.
“He called me a woman,” he said as he was ushered forward by detectives. “Why did he?”
He didn’t respond when asked if he regretted the attack.
Mills is charged with assault and marks his third arrest, with his last offense also being for assault.
