A 23-year-old woman has recounted a terrifying incident aboard the subway, involving a man who is also facing murder charges for a separate attack on a retired teacher. This assault happened just hours after the suspect was discharged from a psychiatric facility.
The young woman shared with the Post that she was on the Manhattan subway with a friend on April 2 when Raymel Burke approached and started a conversation. Feeling uneasy, she attempted to switch cars to escape him.
According to her account, Burke then stalked them, trying to force her to the ground, grabbing her by the back of the head, and kicking her friend in the back.
“He kicked my friend and shoved him away during the train transfer,” she explained in a phone interview. “My friend panicked and ran off. Then he grabbed me and tried to throw me down, but I resisted and managed to stay on my feet. I quickly opened the train door and ran after my friend.”
Fortunately, the train stopped at the West 4th Street Washington Square Station in Greenwich Village, and the pair rushed off in fear.
The victim noted that the 32-year-old Burke was closely pursuing them as they fled. “When we got off, I looked back and saw him chasing us. That’s when I thought, ‘This is really frightening. Why is he following us?'” she recalled, describing Burke as “a bull.”
They started running, and thankfully, police were nearby. “If they weren’t there, we would have literally been running for our lives. They arrested him quickly, and we appreciated that,” she added.
While both she and her friend were left in shock after the encounter, they ultimately decided not to cooperate with prosecutors. Burke was charged with murder on Friday for allegedly killing a 76-year-old man named Ross Falzone by throwing him down a flight of stairs at a Chelsea subway station just the night before.
The police had taken Burke to Bellevue Hospital earlier that day due to erratic behavior, but he was released shortly after and then carried out the attack later on.
Reflecting on the incident, she expressed regret, saying, “I regret it 100%, and it’s a real tragedy that the man lost his life.” She noted a conflicting feeling, perhaps suggesting a reluctance over contributing to another black man’s imprisonment. Yet she acknowledged, “At some point, if you’re a criminal, you’re a criminal. He was intimidating.”
Burke faces assault charges in connection to the subway incident and was granted supervised release during his arraignment.
