Police say man wanted in separate ‘random attacks’ on subway trains arrested

Police have arrested a 25-year-old man wanted in connection with a pair of “random attacks” on TTC subway trains.

Investigators say around 10 p.m. on Thursday, a man boarded a train at Kennedy subway station and started punching a male rider.

Then around 11 p.m., the same suspect, who was on the subway again at Kennedy station, allegedly approached a female passenger and began to shake her before stealing her headphones while “threatening her with death,” Const. Victor Kwong told CityNews 680.

Brandonn Sevilla-Zelaya, 25, of Toronto was taken into custody on Saturday and has been charged with Robbery, Assault Causing Bodily Harm, and Uttering Threat.

At the time police said they were aware of these two victims but were looking to see if there was a connection to any previous reported attacks.

The alleged attacks are the latest among several violent incidents on the TTC this year. Last week, a 31-year-old woman died after a double stabbing at High Park subway station. Earlier in the year, a woman died after she was lit on fire while on a bus at Kipling station, and another woman was pushed onto the subway tracks by a stranger at Yonge station.

“What we are asking … is for people to remain vigilant, for people to keep an eye on each other, and to be aware of the yellow strips on the TTC vehicles … pressing that in the case of an emergency is a good way of notifying the transit operators and the transit commission,” Kwong said.

After last week’s fatal stabbing, many riders took to social media to express their growing apprehension with riding the TTC, while calling for more safety measures to be put in place. Some of the suggestions include hiring more security officers and having a police officer at every station.

Mayor John Tory said the TTC had already taken steps before the attack to increase the presence of transit constables, outreach workers and police.

“We share the concerns our customers and our employees have when it comes to instances of crime on the TTC. They’re unacceptable to everybody,” said TTC spokesperson Stuart Green, who adds TTC CEO Rick Leary met with union officials, the mayor and Toronto police on Thursday to discuss what more can be done to make the system safer.

“Something that we’ve done just in the past week is add additional constable patrols on the subway system just to let people know that we’re out there,” he said.

Green notes that the TTC moves hundreds of millions of people every year without incident but they don’t take that responsibility for granted.

“Our commitment to our customers and our employees is to do anything we possibly can within our power, and within our resources, to enhance safety on the system,” said Green. “But it’s a full team effort. We need support from the city, we need support from social service agencies, we need support from Toronto police and that’s how you make the TTC safer.”

With files from Charlene Close and Michael Talbot of CityNews