NYC homeless man arrested for murder of subway slashing victim killed while commuting home
NYPD says Alvin Charles was charged with the murder of union worker and Brooklyn father of two, Tommy Bailey
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A homeless suspect was arrested for the deadly New York City subway slashing of a commuter.
Tommy Bailey, a 43-year-old steamfitter with the Local 638 union for over two decades, was fatally sliced in the neck while commuting home aboard the Canarsie-bound L train at around 8:50 p.m. on Friday, stumbling out onto the platform after the subway rolled into Brooklyn’s Atlantic Station.
The NYPD said the victim had been involved in a dispute with an unidentified man on the train, and Bailey was rushed by medics to Brookdale University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Homeless murder suspect Alvin Charles smirks as he's escorted by detectives from the 73rd Precinct. (WNYW)
Several days would pass before an arrest was made on Wednesday.
Alvin Charles, a 43-year-old homeless man, was escorted out of the 73rd Precinct Wednesday evening after being charged with the murder of Bailey, a father-of-two whose friends told the N.Y. Daily News was not confrontational and was not known to pick fights.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NYPD officers investigating the scene of a fatal subway slashing on Friday. (WNYW)
Charles has three prior arrests for menacing, assault as a hate crime and assault, according to police.
His arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court had not been immediately scheduled as of Wednesday night.
The scene where slashing victim Tommy Bailey stumbled out of the subway at the Atlantic Avenue station. (WNYW)
The suspect was photographed by news cameras pursing his lips and grinning while detectives escorted him from the precinct and into the back of a cop car while handcuffed behind his back and ankles.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alvin Charles left from the 73rd Precinct after being charged with the murder of union worker Tommy Bailey. (WNYW)
Bailey’s murder is the sixth killing in the New York City subway system so far this year, FOX 5 NY reported. New York City transit crime surged by 57% in July alone and is up by 42% so far this year.