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Woman Thrown Onto Subway Tracks, Raped At Bowery J Train Station

An MTA track worker scared off a man who was raping a 36-year-old woman on the tracks at the Bowery J subway station at Delancey Street on Wednesday. Police say the suspect targeted the woman who got off a train around 1 a.m.: The [victim] was on an escalator when 29-year-old Michael Torres grabbed her around the neck, covered her mouth and told her not to scream. He then dragged her to the end of the platform, threw her on the tracks and sexually assaulted her."

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Suspect Michael Torres
A police source told the Daily News, “He throws her on the tracks, drags her into the tunnel, beats, rapes and sodomizes her." A track worker who was walking along the tracks was holding a light, which the victim noticed so she reportedly starting screaming. The track worker ran over— prompting the suspect to flee— helped the woman and called 911.

Police found surveillance footage of the suspect leaving the station—his "entire run from the attack was caught on various cameras"—and found that he entered a men's shelter at 197 Bowery. Police arrested Torres, charging him with assault, rape, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal sex acts. The News says that he has "27 prior arrests dating back to 1996, mostly for assault and drugs"

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Comments [rss]

  • nick212

    does latin machismo culture breed rapists? seems like latinos are overrepresented among rapists. look up the sex offender registry... tons of hispanics. not being racist - if tht culture causes problems like this, we need to open a dialogue and figure it out.

  • nick212

    latin machismo culture breeds rapists and sex deviants. remember puerto rican day parade? sad but true. :(

  • SeaTheTruth

    I believe that he should be put to death and anyone who knows people who have been raped would agree...or so I would hope.  I believe that as a civilized society the punishment should fit the crime while not over stretching an already thin economy.  The cost it would take to send him to prison and try to "rehabilitate" this monster is not worth the money or the foreseeable danger in trying to let him back into the general population after his sentence is complete.  Now as for the anti capital punishment folks um think of it this way.  If it was you or your family member what would you want to be done.  Because rape murders a part of the victim, takes from their soul its not only a physical crime but an emotional and psychological crime that no amount of therapy can ever fully fix. 

  • nolastname

    Looking at his picture it seems he was born with issues. The paths his life took needed to be strictly directed for him to live with his birth defects and be a human being. Just my opinion, the ball was dropped either by parenting or society......or both. 
    So many victims, what a disgrace.

  • MarkSimeone

    I'm furious.  Calmly we need to march this P.O.S into the public square swiftly and execute him.  And... now we'll all complete the same old process we all know.  Feed him, support him, house him and fund the courts to accomplish that task.  Then years from now, let him go so he can do it again.  Ex Chaos Ordos.

  • tenarha

    Why is it that Latino men seem to target Asian women?  Between this, that Flushing attempted rape/murder (http://gothamist.com/tags/carl..., and my own experiences with being an Asian woman who has been sexually assaulted by FOUR different Latino men in NYC (none of whom have been caught), this can't just be a coincidence!

  • Gadea

    Kill him.

  • Eazy E

    This is number 28, what's the big deal?  Liberalism is well liked in NYC.  Enjoy it.

  • arboc

     O-FU

  • stewart_nyc

    Hey remember the MTA employee who hid in his booth while that woman got raped? We finally have a guy who stepped in and we don't know his name. Where's his photo op with Bloomberg? His thanks from a grateful city?

  • ed_Ex2

    Hang him at City Hall.

  • hotguy

    fact is im sure the track worker was scared to pursue this monster.  but fact is most rapists are cowards and would have beenn easy to get

  • D.B

    Translation; No Track worker , 36yr old woman found raped, and beaten to death in subway tunnel .

  • D.B

    I said this a couple of years ago . During the late nites the mta needs to close these stations .  Since they can't seem to have a group of cops patrolling the stations regularly this would be the best solution to the problem . I know you people are going to give hell for typing it but I'm going to anyway ! Why was she in that station at that time of nite by herself ? Does she have kids over the age of eighteen ? Does she have a Husband, Boyfriend, Someone that could have met her outside of the station Or on the Train ? ( Schedules of the Trains are easy to come by just time them for yourself or ask an mta employee, OR Someone else waiting what the service pattern is . Sometimes self help is the best help . )

  • WarOnMugs

    So... you never take the subway by yourself then? Or if you did and got your ass murdered, should I just say: "well, he should have had his boys with him?"

  • D.B

    First off, Yes I do ride the subway by myself . Number two, I'm a guy . Number three, The station in question is very quite, & desolate most of the time . If I were a female and had to use that station . I would absolutely have someone I knew either meet at the entrance, On the platform, OR some other method of travelling home would be employed .  Sadly, Crazy people do crazier things to women and they need that extra protection .

     ( I don't care how much karate you know, If the person that's trying to kill you either gets the drop on you , Or is bigger, & Stronger they usually get the best of you .) Pepper Spray, Mace work in conjunction with some form of fighting Technic . You can't depend on those camera's, & Police to protect you .   

  • WarOnMugs

    I realize women are targeted by sexual predators. But that doesn't mean they should have to dress a certain way or avoid walking alone at night to expect the full protection of the law, and sympathy from society in general.

    I suppose this is going to come down into a bleeding heart liberal vs rugged self-determined individualist thing, right? The usual crap. 

    But think carefully about what you're saying. And think about what life is like in NYC, for many women In 2012. This ain't the 50s anymore. Women work. In this city? Often crazy hours. They need to take public transit, as many can't afford to drive or take taxis.  They are often single. They don't necessarily have men at their beck and call. 

    Of course people should be careful, and should avoid reckless acts to themselves or others. This woman was taking the subway at 1 am. That is not/should not be considered a reckless act. 

  • hotguy

    probably has 2 mommies at home and no daddies. or vice versa...one guy who stole my iphone had 2 mommies and was born from ivf and bounced from foster home to foster home...maybe this guy was thesame...or maybe bounced around in some foster homes

  • I would shoot this maniac right on the spot, #Stalinstyle

  • cetriche

    cut off his balls and make him eat them...with a spork out of a dog's ass. No, I'm not kidding

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