A man has been accused of sexually assaulting a dead body on the New York City subway after a male passenger suddenly died.
The alleged assault happened on an R train at Whitehall Street subway station around 11.45pm on Tuesday, police sources said.
The NYPD is now hunting for the man, who fled the station shortly after midnight.
The alleged perpetrator is described as having black hair and brown eyes, being 5ft 9in tall, having a goatee and wearing a yellow hoodie and blue LA Dodgers baseball cap.
Investigators identified a man, 56, living in the Bronx as a person of interest and issued a mugshot but did not name him.
He lives with his brother, who told the New York Post the man is a heroin addict and was released from prison a few months ago.
But he said his brother wasn’t ‘like that’, adding that he doesn’t believe his brother carried out the sex act he is accused of.
The deceased male passenger, who has not yet been identified, is believed to have died of natural causes, sources said.
The alleged assault happened on an R train at Whitehall Street subway station around 11.45pm on Tuesday, police sources said
Investigators identified a man, 56, living in the Bronx as a person of interest and issued a photo of him, but did not name. He lives with his brother, who told the New York Post the man is a heroin addict and was released from prison a few months ago
The alleged perpetrator is described as having black hair and brown eyes, being 5ft 9in tall, having a goatee and wearing a yellow hoodie and blue LA Dodgers baseball cap
Police don’t believe the alleged perpetrator and the dead man knew each other.
The deceased passenger, who boarded the train around 8pm, reportedly passed out after smoking a cigarette he had been handed by a woman.
Officers are looking to speak to the unidentified woman, who allegedly looked through the man’s pockets after he lost consciousness.
She is described as wearing a yellow hoodie, black pants and a black baseball cap.
The alleged sexual assault unfolded when the alleged perpetrator got on the R train about three hours later, first making contact with the deceased around 11.20pm before allegedly assaulting him 25 minutes later.
CCTV footage seen by police reportedly shows the 56-year-old man having sex with the corpse.
Anyone with information regarding the alleged assault is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline or submit tips via the Crimestoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X @NYPDTips.
The shocking alleged assault of a corpse comes as fearful and frustrated New Yorkers have voiced their concerns about their daily commutes following other shocking instances of violence rocking the city’s subways.
Many NYC residents dependent on public transportation feel helpless and unconsidered by city and state officials who claim to be striving toward more secure subways.
More than 3.6 million people ride NYC subways every day, according to the MTA
According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), more than 3.6million people ride the subway each day.
In just 2024 alone, the city’s transit system recorded 10 murders – double the number from the previous year.
From 1997 to 2019, the subway system never recorded more than five murders in a single year, according to NYPD data.
New York straphangers have been left outraged by the congestion pricing fees implemented at the start of 2025, which critics believe have left commuters cornered into taking unsafe public transportation.
Within the first few days of congestion pricing being enforced, NYC subway ridership increased by nearly 13 percent from January 2024, ABC7 reported.
Frequent commuters told the DailyMail.com that subway violence combined with increased traffic tolls has made it difficult to decide the safest and most tangible ways to get around the Big Apple.
With limited choices, people revealed they have been forced to survive the chaos of the subways – doing their best to remain alert and take precautions.
Author and life coach Chanel Clark has lived in Manhattan for more than 20 years. She said that subway cars and platforms over the last couple of years have felt drastically more dangerous than before.
‘I take the subway almost every day and it is terrifying. I have never been this afraid,’ Clark told the DailyMail.com.
Clark sold her car last year after it became too expensive to keep. Now, she feels virtually optionless when it comes to getting around.
She has no hope that the situation will improve, and called out local politicians and the MTA for whitewashing how perilous the subways have become.
‘[The MTA is] absolutely downplaying it, but they keep raising our fares. Where is our money going? Where is the protection for the riders?’ she said.
