New Suspect in Morgan L Assaults Apprehended, Charged With Assaults As Hate Crimes

New Suspect in Morgan L Assaults Apprehended, Charged With Assaults As Hate Crimes
Police outside th Morgan Ave station. Anna Conkling/Bklyner

A new suspect has been apprehended in connection with the recent attacks on women at the Morgan L train station in Bushwick yesterday.

NYPD confirmed that they had arrested Khari Covington, 29, who lives in Bushwick. Covington was arrested on eight counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of attempted robbery as a hate crime, police say.

NYPD had previously arrested Benny Watts, 50, in connection to the first four attacks at the Morgan L station between the dates of Nov 17 to Dec 28. The charges against Watts were dropped this morning, said Oren Yaniv, Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.

Assemblywoman Maritza Davila decried the attacks as hate crimes against women in a facebook post and said they will not be tolerated.

“We are grateful to the NYPD for their good work in apprehending this suspected serial criminal and seeking to put an end to these reprehensible attacks,” said Sarah Feinberg, Interim President of the New York City Transit Authority (NYCT) in a recent statement.

“We are outraged for these women and will work closely with the NYPD and District Attorney to hold the perpetrator accountable to the maximum extent under the law.”