An MTA subway operator was stabbed on the job Tuesday morning at a Brooklyn subway station, police reported.
Law enforcement sources said operator Myron Pollack, a 31-year MTA veteran, got into a verbal dispute with a passenger at the Crown Heights-Utica Avenue station, the southern terminus of the 4 line in Brooklyn, when the individual refused to get off the train at about 10:49 a.m. on Oct. 8.
After the dispute intensified, cops said, the passenger stabbed Pollack in the leg and torso.
Officers from the 77th Precinct and NYPD Transit District 32 responded to the incident. MTA Security Chief Michael Kemper, until recently the NYPD’s Transit Chief, said that officers already in the station intervened while the perp was still on top of Pollack, and took him into custody.
Pollack was taken to Kings County Hospital, where doctors performed surgery. MTA Chief Janno Lieber said he is in critical condition on Tuesday afternoon.
Lieber described Pollack as “a real pro.”
“He mentors people,” said Lieber. “He’s one of those guys who knows his way around the system, and is beloved by his fellow employees.”
The incident led to service disruptions Tuesday afternoon; southbound 4 trains ran local between Atlantic Avenue and Kingston Avenue, and both 3 and 4 trains bypassed the Utica Avenue stop.
Police have a person of interest in custody; Lieber said the 27-year-old perp “has a history of attacking Transit customers and MTA employees.” Specifically, he’s previously been convicted of assaulting a conductor and slashed a customer.
“This is a guy who not only has a long rap sheet, but has made it a practice of attacking people in the transit system, including our employees,” said Lieber.
Charges against him are pending the results of the ongoing investigation, though Kemper said he will be charged with attempted murder.
Tuesday’s stabbing occurred on the same day the NYPD announced an 8.7% decrease in transit crime during September.
