Retired postal worker freed without bail in NYC subway slashing
A 70-year-old retired postal worker who allegedly slashed a woman in the face in a Brooklyn subway station was freed without bail Sunday, officials said.
Eric McCoy — sporting a gray beard and a hoodie — appeared before a judge in Brooklyn Criminal Court at 1 a.m. on a felony charge of assault with intent to cause harm with a weapon and three misdemeanors, including illegal weapons possession and harassment, court records show.
The suspect allegedly put a knife to a 68-year-old woman’s cheek and sneered, “Do you want more?” before cutting her the face at an emergency-exit door of the Sheepshead Bay B and Q station 18 hours earlier, according to the NYPD and a criminal complaint.
The top assault rap against McCoy carries a potential prison term of up to seven years.
The charge is bail-eligible. It is unclear what bail prosecutors may have sought for the accused violent slasher at his arraignment. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a Post request for comment Sunday.
McCoy pleaded not guilty to the litany of charges
But Judge Christopher Whitehair released the suspect on his own recognizance with an order of protection against the victim ahead of a January court date.
The frightening 9 a.m. attack came several hours before a man was shot dead in Midtown Manhattan’s Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street subway station. The suspect is still at large.
Felony assault in the city’s transit system is up 12% — to 525 incidents from 470 — and misdemeanor assault is up 16% — to 1,304 crimes from 1,120 — so far this year over the same period last year as of Oct. 13, according to the most recent NYPD data available.
