A man was arrested on Thursday for allegedly causing a woman to fall onto the subway tracks Tuesday afternoon during an assault at the Chinatown Station of the SEPTA Broad Street line’s Broad-Ridge spur.
SEPTA officials said that the suspect approached the 23-year-old woman inside the stop at 8th and Race streets shortly before 3:30 p.m. and inquired what time the train was coming, then asked her for a light for his cigarette.
Police said that she complied, but as she placed the lighter back into her coat pocket, the man allegedly began assaulting her without provocation. He grabbed her by the neck and punched her in the face and head as the woman screamed that she didn’t have anything, according to authorities.
Investigators said the man then grabbed the woman by both legs, dragged her across the platform and threw her onto the tracks. He then allegedly picked up a cell phone she had dropped on the platform, then fled.
The woman was able to cross over to the other side of the tracks and climb onto the platform, according to authorities. Rescue workers treated her at the scene for minor injuries to her head and face, including scrapes and bruises.
SEPTA police caught up with a man fitting the attacker’s description on Thursday at the western concourse inside the 15th Street Plaza. Investigators said that he was sporting one particularly distinctive identifier also worn by the alleged attacker – a multicolored leather jacket emblazoned with “Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resorts.”
The man, identified as 26-year-old William Clark, of the 1300 block of Fitzwater Street, refused to cooperate when stopped and resisted when officers attempted to take him into custody, according to police. He was arrested.
Investigators said they recovered from Clark a white Cricket cell phone that was positively identified as that taken from the victim during the assault.
Clark is charged with assault, reckless endangerment, robbery and theft. He was arraigned Thursday night and bail was set at $2 million. He is next due in court on Feb. 5 for a preliminary hearing.
