Transit detectives arrested a knife-wielding teen Tuesday for allegedly shoving a man onto the tracks at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station last month, and the suspect had plenty to say about the incident.
According to police sources, 19-year-old Andrew Pashinin was arrested by the NYPD Warrant Squad at his mother’s house in Yonkers, and booked on a laundry list of charges, including attempted murder.
At his perp walk on Jan. 21 at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station, Pashinin answered reporters’ questions about the why he allegedly committed the crime.
“He pushed me and said mean things to me before I arrived at the station,” Pashinin said before being stuffed in the back of a police vehicle, claiming that the victim was publicly intoxicated and had threatened him.
“He said he was going to beat my ass and that I was a little kid,” he added.
A police source with immediate knowledge of the incident reported that this was not the case and that they believed Pashinin initiated the confrontation.
Cops say the teen allegedly approached a 33-year-old straphanger from behind at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station at around 11:35 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 7, 2024.
Police reported that the pair got into a verbal dispute, during which Pashinin allegedly pulled out a knife; when the older man saw the weapon, he backed away. However, police said Pashinin was not finished.
Moments later, authorities said, Pashinin allegedly approached the victim again on the southbound platform of the D/N lines and shoved him onto the track before fleeing.
Police sources say the victim managed to pull himself back up to the platform just before a train arrived. He suffered minor injuries.
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site amNewYork.