Two men were arrested after one walked into Kingsbridge Road subway station serving the B/D lines in Fordham Manor on Tuesday, Nov. 5, (Election Day) armed with a machine gun, police said.

 

They said the incident unfolded at around 4.30 p.m., when officers observed a 20-year-old male trespassing inside an unauthorized area of the station to publicly urinate. They said officers approached the man on the northbound platform and repeatedly requested his identification which they said the man refused to provide.

 

They said when officers then attempted to place the man under arrest, he resisted by stiffening his arms and refusing to be handcuffed. “During a brief struggle, a loaded and defaced Palmetto State Armory PA-15 firearm fell out of the male’s backpack,” police said. “Two officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the struggle and were transported to area hospitals,” they added.

 

Police said a 20-year-old male suspect, Abraham Sosa, from the Van Nest section of The Bronx, was subsequently taken into custody and charged with second degree criminal possession of a machine gun, second degree criminal possession of a weapon (a loaded firearm), third degree criminal possession of a weapon (a defaced weapon), resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, 25 counts of criminal possession of a weapon (bullets), third degree criminal trespass, violation of local law, two counts of assault on a police officer, and two counts of second-degree assault.

They said that during the arrest, a second 21-year-old man attempted to interfere with officers while they were attempting to take Sosa into custody while on the platform. They said the 21-year-old kicked an officer’s bodyworn camera onto the subway track, was subsequently taken into custody, and was later found to be in possession of an officer’s cellphone.

 

They said that second man, Christopher Mayren, 21, from the Morris Park section of The Bronx, was arrested and charged with first degree obstructing governmental administration, third degree criminal mischief, fourth degree criminal possession of stolen property, petit larceny, second degree aggravated harassment, and second degree harassment.

 

The two men are deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

On Oct. 13, police said a man grabbed an MTA female employee and performed a lewd act inside Fordham Road subway station, as reported. As also reported, a 15-year-old youth was shot at the entrance to the same subway station in March 2024, and the same month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams had joined local elected officials for a walk through the nearby Kingsbridge Underpass, known as a hub for drug taking.

 

When asked on Sunday, Nov. 10, if she had heard about the man arrested for having the machine gun, one female subway rider at Kingsbridge Road subway station said, “No, but this isn’t my usual stop. I was just filling up my MetroCard.” Asked if she was surprised, the subway rider said, “No.” We asked if generally the subway rider felt safe riding the subway. She replied, “The MTA is what it is. I mean you win some and you lose some. I just pray for my safety every day.”

 

Kingsbridge Road subway station is located close to Poe Park on the Grand Concourse, and the Kingsbridge underpass, an area where residents have long complained about open drug use.

During the 52nd Precinct Community Council meeting held at Tracey Towers on Oct. 24, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) thanked Bronx Community Board 7 chair Yajaira Arias, saying, “I want to just publicly thank our chairwoman who continues to be a great asset not only to this community and this precinct council, but this community as a whole, particularly with some of the issues you’ve been dealing with for the last couple of years, even the last couple of months around public drug use, particularly around Poe Park, the Kingsbridge Road underpass, etc.”

 

Rivera continued, “There’s a lot of work that my office has been trying to do to connect the people who are there with services so that they’re not using in public, so that they can get treatment.. and syringes can be exchanged… so thank you for continuing to be a presence in all these conversations.”

 

 

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips.

 

All calls are strictly confidential.

 

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that the incident took place in Fordham Manor rather than Kingsbridge Heights. While the Kingsbridge Road subway station serving the 4 train is located in Kingsbridge Heights, the Kingsbridge Road subway station serving the B/D train is located in the Fordham Manor neighborhood.