A man was arrested Friday after he activated the emergency brake on a 2 train in Chelsea earlier this week, police said.
Isaiah Thompson, 23, was seen on video riding on the outside of the train on Tuesday about 5:45 p.m. at the 14th Street station on Seventh Avenue. After riding the northbound train for several stops, he activated the emergency brake inside the unoccupied operator’s car at the end of the train, police said.
He was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespass, according to the NYPD.
Emergency brakes have been unnecessarily activated in restricted train cabs for several months and possibly years, the MTA said Wednesday. The incidents have mostly happened in Manhattan and Brooklyn on 2 and 5 trains, the MTA said.
Police are investigating whether Thompson, of Clinton Hill, is behind similar incidents, an NYPD spokesman said Friday.
While there were no injuries reported when the emergency brakes were activated on Tuesday, the MTA warned doing so can be dangerous.
“When you activate the emergency brake the train can stop very suddenly, someone could get hurt just falling over,” MTA board member Andrew Albert said Wednesday.
Thompson also is accused of exposing himself to people on a subway platform while riding on the back of a B train on May 16, police said. He was charged with public lewdness, reckless endangerment and criminal trespass in that incident.
With Vincent Barone
