A homeless guy jailed Saturday on charges of shoving a woman to the tracks at the Periods Sq. subway station could have been justified in pushing her, the suspect’s law firm reported in court docket.
Evidence in the circumstance mentioned at a listening to appears to back the suspect’s story.
Carlos Ortiz, 32, is accused of assault with intent to injure and reckless endangerment for the incident Friday, after which a team of straphangers grabbed him on the R practice platform and rescued the lady from the tracks.
At arraignment Saturday in Manhattan Legal Court, Ortiz’s bail was set at $5,000 income or $30,000 bond.
The 36-calendar year-old victim advised police that she realized Ortiz, who experienced confronted her and groped her at an earlier date, police sources with understanding of the scenario mentioned. It was not promptly disclosed when that assault took area.
About 1:45 p.m. Friday, the lady spotted Ortiz at the Instances Sq. station and confronted him, chasing him to the northbound platform when Ortiz turned and shoved her onto the tracks just as a coach was approaching, officials stated.
The motorman managed to quit the practice in time and a handful of witnesses assisted the female climb back on to the subway platform, grabbing Ortiz and keeping him right until police arrived.
Ortiz informed law enforcement he shoved the woman right after she confronted him, said Manhattan Assistant DA Jacqueline Studley.
In courtroom, Studley quoted Ortiz’s terms to cops: “She was hitting me, so I pushed her. I’m not injured.”
“There is a movie of the complainant [the woman] assaulting or making an attempt to assault the defendant in the times preceding the defendant pushing the complainant onto the subway tracks,” Studley mentioned.
“There is also an eyewitness that mentioned the complainant was hanging the defendant prior to the push.”
Ortiz’s attorney, Francis White of the Legal Aid Society, reported prosecutors will have a really hard time displaying that Ortiz’s shove was not justified.
“We have a problem listed here wherever anyone fell into the subway as aspect of the altercation, and so the intended very good Samaritans assumed that the pusher was a mugger and a perpetrator,” White mentioned.
“It looks that what genuinely took place is that my consumer [Ortiz] was accosted by anyone and he attempted to protect himself,” White mentioned. “Turns out he was basically confronted — assuming he’s the pusher.”
“It definitely appears like the individuals are likely to have a hard time disproving justification,” the attorney went on.
The woman, a Queens resident, was taken care of at Bellevue Medical center for minimal injuries.
“My customer is explained in the newspapers as a homeless person — certainly he cannot make bail,” stated White.
Even by prosecutors’ principle, the law firm mentioned, Ortiz is “to some degree a sufferer.”