Eagle eyed Gawker fan helps lead police to subway assault suspect
The suspect arrested for a brutal attack on a 56-year-old woman in an F train station in Borough Park was nabbed with help from a person who left on a comment on the Gawker website that led police to the alleged attacker, Councilman David Greenfield said.
Aidan Folen, 21, of Bay Ridge was taken into custody by police on April 2, after a shocking video taken by a station surveillance camera that showed him allegedly attacking the victim in the 18th Avenue station went viral. He has been charged with second degree assault and second degree robbery.
Greenfield said a commentator on Gawker posted a link to Folen’s Facebook page, in which the suspect is seen in a photo wearing the same hooded sweatshirt and shirt he wore in the attack.
CBS 2 News reported that the attack took several minutes. The suspect followed the woman down the stairs of the train station at 2:40 a.m. on March 9 and then punched and kicked her repeatedly, police said. The attacker is also seen on the video grabbing the victim’s pocketbook, emptying the contents on the floor and stealing items, police