MTA Worker in Critical Condition After Stabbing Incident in Brooklyn

An MTA subway operator is in critical condition following a stabbing incident on Tuesday morning in Brooklyn, according to union officials. The incident occurred at the Crown Heights-Utica Avenue station just before 11 a.m.

The victim, identified as Myran Pollack, 60, sustained injuries to his stomach and leg during a confrontation with a passenger who refused to disembark at the last stop, police reported. Pollack, who has been with the MTA for 31 years and is nearing retirement, was cleaning a rail car when the altercation began. The assailant followed Pollack onto the southbound platform and stabbed him twice.

MTA Security Chief Michael Kemper stated that officers already present at the station intervened while the 27-year-old suspect, Jonathan Davalos, attacked Pollack. Davalos was apprehended and charged with attempted murder, assault, and menacing.

Kemper noted that Davalos has a substantial criminal history, including previous convictions for assaulting an MTA operator and injuring a customer. MTA officials disclosed that Davalos had been released from jail in February and described him as an individual using the transit system “for evil.”

MTA CEO Janno Lieber expressed concern over the impact of repeat offenders on public safety, stating, “We got to find a way to get people like this perpetrator out of the public space, out of the subways, so they don’t attack people again and again.”

Richard Davis, president of TWU Local 100, highlighted the severity of the incident, stating that Pollack is “fighting for his life” after being transported to Kings County Hospital. Davis called for changes to policies and legislation to prevent recurrent violence against transit workers, criticizing the continued release of offenders.

Despite a reported 8.7% decrease in transit crime in September and a 12% drop from pre-COVID levels, officials acknowledged that recidivism remains a significant problem. Lieber urged the criminal justice system to take action, saying, “We have to find a way for the criminal justice system to be able to protect New Yorkers, especially transit riders, against people who want to do harm to them again and again.”

Pollack remains in critical condition after undergoing surgery, according to officials.