Vagrant with more than 43 prior arrests nabbed in NYC subway shove
A Bronx vagrant with more than 40 busts under his belt was arrested Tuesday for the unprovoked subway shoving of a Manhattan straphanger the day before, police sources told The Post.
Clarence Anderson, 36 — a suspected emotionally disturbed person — was charged with assault in the subway attack after cops nabbed him for another incident near Columbus Circle while he was on the lam, sources said.
The suspect had allegedly hurled a rock at a construction worker, sources said.
Once Anderson was in custody for the rock-tossing, cops recognized him from his description in the subway assault, which was caught on surveillance video, sources said.
He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for a psychiatric evaluation after authorities deemed him a suspected EDP, sources said.
Records show Anderson has at least three open criminal cases in The Bronx, including for robbery and burglary, in addition to his lengthy criminal record.
“He shouldn’t have been on the streets,” the subway-shove victim told The Post.”Something needs to be changed or fixed.
“It’s crazy how he’s still around. I’m happy he’s arrested, and hopefully he isn’t back on the streets.”
The 25-year-old victim told The Post earlier that cops said his assailant had at least 39 arrests on his record.
“Scary s–t, man,” the battered victim said. “Honestly, I never thought this would happen to me. I’ve heard of this stuff happening, but I didn’t think it would be me.”
The man, who works in commercial real estate, was heading home at the Nov. 6 platform at the 14th Street-Union Square station when he was shoved from behind.
He fell onto the tracks and was helped up by good Samaritans — with a gash to his head and arm but fortunately spared more serious injuries.
“I would say that I love the city, but the fact that this guy is still on the streets is pretty pathetic,” he said Tuesday morning.
Just hours later, a construction worker flagged down cops and told them Anderson had thrown a rock at him, sources said.
Police took Anderson into custody, with officers noting he fit the description of the Monday night shover and eventually charged him in that attack.
A witness who came on the scene just moments after the subway attack called it “absolutely terrifying.
“Our train came in, and we saw this guy who was bleeding profusely with a gash in his forehead,” the witness, a graffiti artist from Brooklyn, told The Post. “He said someone has just pushed him onto the tracks, and he managed to pull himself back up.
“We tried to stop the blood, got tissues from people,” he said. “It’s terrifying, absolutely terrifying. I won’t be standing anywhere near that yellow border anymore.”