A 19-year-old woman was groped from behind aboard a northbound 5 train as it sat at the 14th Street–Union Square station on Tuesday, August 11, at approximately 4:20 p.m., according to police. The unidentified man touched the teen's buttocks before fleeing on foot once the train reached East 149th Street and 3rd Avenue in the South Bronx, roughly 15 to 20 minutes and five express stops later.
The alert comes from NYPD Crime Stoppers, which is asking the public for help identifying the suspect nearly three weeks after the incident. The agency says the man approached the victim from behind while the train was still in the station before making contact and then running off once he exited at the 3rd Avenue–149th Street stop.
🚨 WANTED FOR FORCIBLE TOUCHING: On Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at approximately 4:20 P.M., aboard a northbound "5" train at the 14 Street-Union Square subway station, a 19-year-old female victim was approached from behind by an unidentified individual. The individual forcibly… pic.twitter.com/V2Tohqhdcy
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) August 29, 2026
That Bronx station is no quiet backwater — it anchors The Hub, the busy commercial district spanning Mott Haven and Melrose, and ranks as the second-busiest subway station in the borough, with 3.7 million passenger entries recorded in 2024, according to Wikipedia. The 14th Street–Union Square complex where the alleged assault began is even bigger: Manhattan's fourth-busiest transit hub, linking eight subway lines and drawing more than 14 million passenger entries a year.
A Fast Escape Across Borough Lines
The getaway illustrates a recurring headache for transit investigators — a suspect can board an express train in Manhattan and be standing in the South Bronx before officers even respond to a 911 call. The 5 express run from Union Square to 3rd Avenue–149th Street covers five stops in an estimated 15 to 20 minutes, crossing an entire borough boundary in the time it takes to finish a short commute.
This is not the first time the 5 train near Union Square has drawn law enforcement attention for this kind of crime. Back in September 2015, CBS New York reported that officers arrested a man aboard a northbound 5 train after he forcibly touched an undercover female officer as the train pulled into the same station.
What Investigators Have to Work With
Under a statewide transit safety initiative completed in December 2024, the MTA installed security cameras across 100 percent of New York City subway cars, adding to 15,000 station cameras already in place systemwide, per the MTA. That footage typically gives detectives a strong starting point in cases like this one, capturing both the train car interaction and the suspect's movements through station turnstiles.
Forcible touching under New York Penal Law § 130.52 is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and up to six years of probation, with a subsection specifically covering nonconsensual sexual contact against transit passengers, according to the New York State Senate. Because the victim in this case is an adult, sex offender registration under the state's Sex Offender Registration Act would not automatically apply if the suspect is caught and convicted — that registration requirement is generally mandatory only when a victim is under 18.
Anonymous Tips Carry a Cash Reward
NYPD Transit District 4, the command responsible for patrols and investigations within the Union Square subway complex, is working the case alongside the citywide Crime Stoppers unit. Anyone with information can call 1-800-577-TIPS, and tips can be submitted anonymously; those leading to an arrest and indictment are eligible for a reward of up to $3,500.
The search adds to a string of recent Manhattan groping cases NYPD has publicized this summer, including a hunt for a man who allegedly groped a teen on a Times Square subway platform and a separate search after an attacker groped a woman near West 213th Street in Inwood. Those cases remain open, mirroring the broader challenge facing transit police even as overall major subway crime hit a 16-year low of roughly 1.65 major crimes per million riders in 2025, according to state and MTA data reported in December 2025.
