NEW YORK CITY, NY – A 43-year-old man was arrested by the NYPD earlier in November after the individual saved a woman from being mugged on the subway, with officials taking aim at the fact the individual used a firearm to stop the attempted mugging.
On November 8th, police arrested John Rote under several charges, including reckless endangerment, after Rote had apparently fired what have been described in various reports as “warning shots” to ward off a vagrant who was allegedly in the process of robbing a woman a day earlier.
The originating incident occurred at the 49th Street NRW station platform on the evening of November 7th, where Rote overheard 49-year-old Matthew Roesch actively demanding that a 40-year-old woman hand over all her money.
According to authorities, Rote had fired off some shots in the subway, apparently striking no one in the process, as a means to scare off the would-be robber.
Apparently, Rote’s course of action at the time was effective in accomplishing an end to the attempted robbery, but the NYPD plastered Rote’s image on social media asking the public to assist in identifying and locating him after thwarting the robbery.
In a statement shared by Richard Davey following Rote’s arrest, who serves as one of New York City’s top transit officials, Davey admonished the actions of Rote despite the fact that they were carried out without injury and with intent to stop an actual violent offense amidst the city’s subway system.
“I want to be clear: we don’t tolerate this kind of conduct in NYC Transit, period. Once again cameras recorded a perpetrator, and we are grateful the NYPD made an arrest within hours. Thank goodness nobody was hurt here – but what occurred was outrageous, reckless, and unacceptable.”
The sentiments expressed by Davey seems to be one synonymous with the feelings of many New York City officials, where purported acts of vigilantism used as a means to stop active violent crimes – particularly on subways – are seemingly vilified worse than the actual violent offenses that spurred the vigilante acts.
Police did manage to take into custody the alleged subway mugger, Roesch, who is only facing attempted robbery charges, whereas Rote is ironically facing a litany of more serious charges than the would-be attacker he reportedly thwarted. Outside of the reckless endangerment charge, Rote is also facing charges of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, and menacing.
On November 8th, police arrested John Rote under several charges, including reckless endangerment, after Rote had apparently fired what have been described in various reports as “warning shots” to ward off a vagrant who was allegedly in the process of robbing a woman a day earlier.
The originating incident occurred at the 49th Street NRW station platform on the evening of November 7th, where Rote overheard 49-year-old Matthew Roesch actively demanding that a 40-year-old woman hand over all her money.
According to authorities, Rote had fired off some shots in the subway, apparently striking no one in the process, as a means to scare off the would-be robber.
Apparently, Rote’s course of action at the time was effective in accomplishing an end to the attempted robbery, but the NYPD plastered Rote’s image on social media asking the public to assist in identifying and locating him after thwarting the robbery.
In a statement shared by Richard Davey following Rote’s arrest, who serves as one of New York City’s top transit officials, Davey admonished the actions of Rote despite the fact that they were carried out without injury and with intent to stop an actual violent offense amidst the city’s subway system.
“I want to be clear: we don’t tolerate this kind of conduct in NYC Transit, period. Once again cameras recorded a perpetrator, and we are grateful the NYPD made an arrest within hours. Thank goodness nobody was hurt here – but what occurred was outrageous, reckless, and unacceptable.”
The sentiments expressed by Davey seems to be one synonymous with the feelings of many New York City officials, where purported acts of vigilantism used as a means to stop active violent crimes – particularly on subways – are seemingly vilified worse than the actual violent offenses that spurred the vigilante acts.
Police did manage to take into custody the alleged subway mugger, Roesch, who is only facing attempted robbery charges, whereas Rote is ironically facing a litany of more serious charges than the would-be attacker he reportedly thwarted. Outside of the reckless endangerment charge, Rote is also facing charges of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, and menacing.
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