Police on Tuesday arrested the alleged bigot who slashed a gay man in a Manhattan subway last week during an anti-LGBTQIA+ rant.
According to authorities, 46-year-old Milton Hamlin — a registered sex offender — was tracked down in his home borough of the Bronx by the NYPD Warrant Squad where he was brought back to the 7th Precinct and charged on Tuesday morning.
Hamlin is accused of viciously assaulting a gay man aboard an uptown-bound A train on March 1 at about 11:03 p.m.
Cops say the victim, a 27-year-old man, rode with his husband on was riding the train car with his boyfriend approaching 34 Street-Penn Station when Hamlin got into an argument with him. Law enforcement sources said Hamlin allegedly spurting LGBTQIA+ obscenities.
Things spiraled out of control further, cops said, when Hamlin is said to have brandished a box cutter and began wildly swinging. The victim tried to block the blows with his arms, suffering a deep laceration to his left hand.
Hamlin fled the scene following the attack. The victim, meanwhile, sought treatment for his injuries at Bellevue Hospital.
Detectives marched Hamlin out of the 7th Precinct in cuffs on March 5 where he refused to answer questions for alleged crime, remaining silent as he was placed in the back of an unmarked car.
Hamlin is charged with assault as a hate crime, assault, menacing as a hate crime, and menacing.
According to the New York State Sex Offender Registry, Hamlin is convicted Level 3 sex offender. He was convicted in September 2011 on charges that he attempted to lure a 16-year-old boy into a building for sexual contact, and was released in July 2013.
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