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Man expected to face charges after threatening MBTA riders

BOSTON — MBTA police are seeking charges against a man caught on cell phone video threatening other riders before slapping the phone out of a woman's hand.

Between swears and racial slurs, the video shows him threatening to shoot someone who had apparently gotten too close to him during the rush-hour commute on Wednesday morning.

"Don't start that pushing (expletive)," he says. "You're gonna get shot on the train."

FOX25's Christine McCarthy spoke to the woman who recorded the incident. She asked FOX25 not to identify her for her safety.

“He typically bullies one person and they back away, and they either get off the train or they move, and he wins,” she said. “I'm a 'see something, say something' type of person, and at that moment, I felt that people were being bullied and something needed to be said."

But he wouldn't allow her to record for long. The man slapped the woman's arm, knocking the phone to the ground.

"You're putting the camera in my face. You're gonna be mad when I break it. Congratulations," he says, before hitting her.

It's not the first time the woman said she has witnesses his erratic behavior. About a month ago, she recorded another video of him threatening a man riding the T.

"You wouldn't have a face," he seems to say in the video. "You'd go home and your wife wouldn't recognize you."

The woman who captured the video posted it on social media, and other users and bloggers shared the posts, including Turtleboy Sports, which urged the public to identify the suspect and bring him to justice.

MBTA Transit Police are investigating the case. They have identified the suspect and are seeking charges, Superintendent Richard Sullivan said.

T officials are not yet releasing the suspect's name or what charges he will face. Sullivan commended the rider who recorded the incidents.

"We truly appreciate the victim had the courage to bring this to our attention," Sullivan wrote in an email to FOX25. "We will not tolerate such behavior and we hope this incident will serve as a warning to anyone who conducts themselves (in) such a manner, the TPD will identify, locate and prosecute you."