A man approached a 6-year-old girl and her mother inside the Inwood-207th Street subway station and tried to grab the child before fleeing onto a southbound A train, according to police. The attempted abduction happened on July 29, and investigators only released a surveillance photo of the suspect in early September, more than a month after the incident. Police say the attempt was unsuccessful, and the girl was not taken.
According to PIX11, the unidentified man grabbed the girl inside the station and tried to pull her onto the train before the attempt failed and he escaped southbound. The outlet reports that the NYPD released a surveillance photo of the suspect and is asking anyone with information to come forward. No arrest has been announced, and it remains unclear whether investigators have identified additional video from the train itself or from connecting stations along the line.
Where the Attempt Took Place
The Inwood-207th Street station sits at the northern terminal of the IND Eighth Avenue Line, connecting Upper Manhattan riders directly toward Queens via Brooklyn. The station first opened in September 1932 under the name Washington Heights-207th Street, according to background compiled from Facebook transit history posts. Policing inside the station falls to NYPD Transit District 3, headquartered at the 145th Street station in Harlem, which operates alongside surface patrols from Manhattan's 34th Precinct, per records reviewed on NYC.gov.
The station has been the scene of other recent violence in the surrounding blocks. On August 13, an unidentified assailant grabbed and groped a 25-year-old woman near 10th Avenue and West 213th Street, just blocks from the 207th Street terminal, prompting a separate NYPD Crime Stoppers search, as Hoodline reported in its story on the Inwood groping attack. That suspect also fled on foot, though police have not linked the two cases.
Legal Exposure If Suspect Is Caught
If identified and arrested, the man could face Kidnapping in the Second Degree under New York Penal Law § 135.20, a charge that applies to abducting another person and does not require a ransom demand or physical injury. The charge is classified as a Class B violent felony carrying a potential sentence of 5 to 25 years in state prison, according to legal guidance published by Saland Law. Prosecutors could alternatively or additionally pursue Unlawful Imprisonment in the First Degree under Penal Law § 135.10, a Class E felony covering unlawful restraint that exposes a victim to risk of serious physical injury, carrying up to four years in prison, per the statute cited by NYSenate.gov.
A Citywide Pattern of Rising Transit Assaults
The case lands amid a broader rise in physical violence on New York's subway system. NYPD monthly transit crime statistics released in August showed major crimes across the subway system up 1% year-to-date through July, with a 10.9% jump during July alone, according to figures reported on NYC.gov. Felony assaults and grand larcenies made up nearly four-fifths of all July transit offenses. Citywide, overall major crime fell 5.6% in the first half of the year, but felony assaults rose for a sixth consecutive year, a trend the Brooklyn Eagle's analysis of police data has tracked closely.
State officials have responded with money and manpower. In December, New York allocated $77 million through 2026 for enhanced NYPD subway patrols and transit safety initiatives, including expanded patrols and specialized SCOUT mental health response teams, according to state records. The MTA has also been rolling out newer R211 subway cars on the A line, which include onboard security cameras and digital displays that can assist investigators tracking a suspect's movements between stations.
Similar Cases Involving Children on the Rails
This is not the first time NYPD has investigated a crime targeting a child inside a subway station this year. In March, a 12-year-old was the victim of an armed robbery inside the Avenue P subway station in Brooklyn, with the suspect escaping on a southbound train, a case detailed in Hoodline's earlier report on the Avenue P robbery scare. Crime Stoppers offered a $3,500 reward for information in that case.
Investigators have not said whether they believe the Inwood suspect lives locally in Upper Manhattan, and it is unclear why police waited more than a month after the July 29 incident to release the surveillance image. Anyone with information is asked to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or by text to 274637, using the code TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers can reach Crime Stoppers at 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
