New York City subway crime is down, authorities say
New York City officials say subway crime is on the decline despite some recent high-profile violent incidents. FOX 5 NY’s Briella Tomassetti has more details.
brooklyn – A man accused of burning a woman to death as she slept in a New York City subway car pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning.
Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was charged with murder and arson in a Brooklyn court in connection with the murder of Debrina Khawam, 57.
Prosecutors said Zapeta, a New Jersey native, set him on fire on Dec. 22 on a stopped F train at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station. Zapeta then fanned the flames with his shirt, then sat on a bench on the platform and watched Khawam burn, they allege.
Photo by Debrina Khawam provided to FOX 5 NY.
Prosecutors said Zapeta admitted to police that he was the man seen in surveillance photos and videos of the fire, but he had been drinking heavily and did not remember what happened. He is said to have said.
Who is Sebastian Zapeta?
Authorities have charged Zapeta, a Guatemalan national who entered the country illegally after being deported in 2018, with multiple counts of murder and arson. The most serious charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
He had previously been arraigned on criminal charges, but New York state requires a grand jury indictment in all felony cases to proceed to trial unless the defendant waives that requirement.
Prosecutors in Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s office announced that Zapeta was indicted in late December.
Subway crime is down, officials say.
Traffic crime is down for the second year in a row, with a 5.4% drop last year compared to 2023, with an overall 3% decline in major crimes across the city, according to data released by police on Monday. It is also shown that there are.
Still, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference discussing the statistics that passengers simply “don’t feel safe.”
In response, the ministry said it would rush more than 200 officers to the subway and deploy more officers to subway platforms in the city’s 50 busiest stations.
“We know that 78 per cent of traffic crimes occur on trains and platforms, so it’s clear that police officers need to be there,” Tisch said. “This is just the beginning.”
