NYPD Hunts Man Who Groped Woman, 25, on Rush-Hour N Train in Brooklyn

A 25-year-old woman was groped aboard a northbound N train as it moved through the New Utrecht Avenue subway station in Brooklyn during the Wednesday morning rush two weeks ago, according to police, who are now asking the public for help identifying the man responsible. The incident happened at approximately 8:00 a.m. on August 19, within the overlapping patrol boundaries of the 68th Precinct and Transit District 34.

According to NYPD Crime Stoppers, an unidentified individual forcibly grabbed the victim's buttocks with an open hand while she was riding the train. The alert, headlined “Wanted for a Forcible Touching,” was posted five days after the incident and asks anyone with information to come forward. Investigators are offering a reward of up to $3,500 for a tip that leads to an arrest and indictment.

🚨WANTED FOR A FORCIBLE TOUCHING: On Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at approximately 8:00 AM, a 25-year-old female victim was aboard a northbound "N" train at the New Utrecht Avenue subway station, confines of the 68 Precinct/Transit District 34, when an unidentified individual… pic.twitter.com/RHlhWUuW25

— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) August 24, 2026

Where the Attack Took Place

The New Utrecht Avenue subway complex where the incident occurred is a multi-level transfer hub in Brooklyn connecting the open-cut BMT Sea Beach Line, served by the N train, with the elevated BMT West End Line, served by the D train, according to Wikipedia. Sitting on the border of Borough Park and Bensonhurst, the station handles more than 1.1 million annual turnstile entries and features four elevators linking its upper and lower platforms. Hoodline previously detailed the area's commuter volume while covering a nearby residential development near the D train.

Subway safety and criminal investigations at the station fall under NYPD Transit District 34, one of four dedicated transit police commands operating in Brooklyn, per the New York City Police Department. That command is headquartered at Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue and patrols 25 miles of passenger rail line across southern Brooklyn. Land-based policing in the surrounding neighborhood, meanwhile, is handled by the NYPD's 68th Precinct, which covers Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Fort Hamilton — while transit officers patrol the platforms and cars, local precincts coordinate street-level canvasses when suspects flee stations on foot.

Cameras Could Aid the Investigation

One potential asset for detectives is the MTA's completed rollout of security cameras across every New York City Transit subway car. The $5.5 million state and federal initiative, finished in December 2024, outfitted the entire subway fleet with more than 15,000 cameras, including two interior cameras in every car. That means footage from the northbound N train involved in this incident may exist for investigators to review, though it remains unclear whether NYPD detectives have obtained or reviewed any such footage from the train car or nearby station turnstiles.

If a suspect is identified and arrested, the case would likely be prosecuted under New York Penal Law § 130.52, which classifies forcible touching as a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to 364 days in jail and up to six years of probation. A subsection of that statute specifically criminalizes nonconsensual sexual contact against passengers aboard transit buses, trains, and subway cars, according to the New York State Senate.

Part of a Wider Pattern on Brooklyn Transit

The alert comes amid a modest citywide uptick in transit crime. NYPD data released in August 2026 showed transit incidents citywide rose 10.9 percent in July compared to the same month in 2025, with 173 transit incidents recorded that month. The increase was primarily driven by nonviolent grand larcenies and felony assaults, even as citywide homicides and robberies reached historic lows, per the City of New York. Separately, CompStat figures from mid-August recorded 3,425 “other sex crimes” complaints citywide year-to-date — a category that includes groping and forcible touching — nearly flat compared to 3,420 during the same period in 2025.

This is not the first such alert Hoodline has covered in recent months. In June, NYPD sought a suspect after a teen was groped on an F train near Smith–Ninth Streets, and just a day earlier issued a separate alert in a late-night F train groping case. In May, police sought suspects in a lewd act aboard a 2 train and in a string of forcible-touching cases tied to a Greenpoint spree, as well as a separate incident near Hoyt–Schermerhorn. Earlier this year, the NYPD also increased police deployments and co-response outreach teams across the subway system to address seasonal upticks in transit crime, with officials at the time attributing early-year fluctuations to weather patterns and higher passenger volume underground, per CBS News.

How to Submit a Tip

NYPD Crime Stoppers is asking anyone with information about the New Utrecht Avenue incident to submit tips by calling 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or by direct messaging @NYPDTips on social media. The Crime Stoppers reward program is funded through private donations to the nonprofit New York City Police Foundation, which assigns tipsters unique caller code numbers to guarantee anonymity. Established in 1983, the program has distributed more than $3.4 million in cash rewards over the years to help solve violent and serious crimes citywide.