3 teens charged in NYC subway slashing spree; 4th suspect still sought

NEW YORK — Authorities have charged three teens for slashing and slugging at least four subway riders in a series of vicious assaults on Manhattan trains, police said Saturday.

Taquarious Soto-Burgos, 19, Joseph Foster, 18, and a 16-year-old boy are all facing robbery and weapons possession charges for the predawn Friday rampage that began around 4:30 a.m.

The 16-year-old suspect, who was not named because of his age, is also facing assault charges for the razor attacks aboard a southbound No. 4 train.

Police are still trying to determine if the trio is responsible for stabbing a man in his right eye aboard a train approaching the 59th Street station at Columbus Circle around the same time.

A man taken into custody with the three suspects Friday afternoon was let go without charges after police determined he was not involved, police said. A fourth suspect is still being sought.

Police believe the suspects paired off between the Union Square and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall stations.

The suspects were taken into custody around 1:15 p.m. after Transit Bureau Capt. Kenny Gorman and a second cop boarded the uptown No. 1 train and recognized the quartet from subway station video footage, police said.

They were grabbed without incident as they exited the train at the W. 79th St. station, police said.

Foster was freed without bail this past January after his arrest for a Bronx knife-point robbery described as “eerily similar” to Friday’s attacks, law enforcement sources said.

In that case, Foster and five other teens stopped a 20-year-old man riding a bike on Jerome Avenue in Jerome Park on Jan. 13 and threatened him with a knife as they demanded his property.

The muggers knocked the bicyclist down and ran off with his backpack, which contained a pair of gloves and $50, cops said. Foster was arrested for the robbery the next morning, charged with robbery, menacing, weapons possession and harassment.

The Friday incidents began around 4:30 a.m. when one suspect slashed a 45-year-old man across the cheek as their train pulled into the Union Square station, police said.

The victim jumped off the train and called police, with three suspects remaining onboard to slash a 40-year-old man and punch a 41-year-old man, police said. Those two victims exited the train at the Astor Place station.

The trio then demanded money from a 44-year-old subway rider, who was slashed in the back and robbed of his cellphone even after surrendering some cash, police said. That victim left the train at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall stop, as did the three suspects.

The final victim showed up at the transit police offices near Yankee Stadium around 5 a.m., and police tried to “drill down” on the details of what exactly happened after the fourth attacker plunged a knife into his right eye at Columbus Circle, said NYPD Assistant Chief Jason Wilcox.

The four victims on the No. 4 train were taken to nearby hospitals for their wounds, while the Columbus Circle victim was taken for surgery at an unidentified facility.

The suspects’ arraignments were pending Saturday in Manhattan Criminal Court.

The slashings added to the troubling uptick of violence in the city’s transit system. While overall serious crime is down 43% in the subway system so far this year, felony assaults have jumped 25%, according to NYPD data.

On Friday, NYC Transit Interim President Sarah Feinberg and Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano joined in the criticism of City Hall over the rash of violence.

“If (Mayor Bill de Blasio) needed a wake-up call, this is it,” read a statement from Feinberg. “Enough is enough. The mayor is risking New York’s recovery every time he lets these incidents go by without meaningful action.”