Vigilante taken into custody after shooting at crook in Times Square subway station
Times Square #TimesSquare
A pistol-packing vigilante opened fire on a homeless man who tried to muscle a dollar out of a woman in a Times Square subway station police said Wednesday.
Nobody was struck when shots rang out near the Queens-bound N/R/W lines inside the 49th St. station around 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The mugger was holding open an emergency exit gate near the turnstiles in exchange for a small fee but when a 40-year-old woman failed to pay up, he threatened to steal her purse, officials said.
The interaction caught the attention of the gunman.
“Leave her alone,” the vigilante said, then fired twice, thwarting the robbery attempt but striking nobody, according to police.
The gunman, who was carrying an olive green backpack and a tote bag from the B&H electronics store in Midtown, ran off. But police caught up to him Wednesday afternoon and took him into custody, police sources said.
“I’ve looked at the video (of the incident),” New York City Transit President Rich Davey said at a news conference. “It’s, I would say, unusual. He looks very calm, pulls out a gun, fires two shots, calmly puts the gun back in his bag and walks away.”
Police arrested 49-year-old Matthew Roesch for the mugging. Although he wasn’t hit, he was taken to an area hospital for observation. Cops charged him with attempted robbery.
Roesch, who is what the MTA refers to as a “swiper,” has a history of holding emergency doors open and expecting a tip, said NYPD Inspector Steven Hill, the commanding officer of transit borough Manhattan.
“He’s been a constant problem,” said Hill.
Roesch, who has been staying at a homeless shelter by Bellevue Hospital, has one prior arrest, for theft of service at the Times Square station on Sept. 18.
Cops on Wednesday released a surveillance photo of the gunman before he was taken into custody. Charges against him were pending as of the afternoon.
“We don’t tolerate this in New York City Transit, period,” Davey said. “Thank goodness nobody was hurt in this instance.”