Man charged with smearing human faeces on a woman’s face is arrested again
New York police say Mr Abrokwa has a total of 44 prior arrests, one felony conviction and 10 misdemeanor convictions
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The man accused of committing one of the more heinous crimes reported at a New York subway station is back behind bars again, but this time for a crime that will induce far fewer stomach-churning reactions.
Frank Abrokwa was caught on CCTV footage on 21 February approaching a 43-year-old woman who was sitting on a bench at the Wakefield-241st Street subway station in the Bronx. In the video, you can see the moment that the 37-year-old smeared human faeces on the unsuspecting woman’s face.
By 28 February, Mr Abrokwa was caught and charged by police with forcible touching, menacing and disorderly conduct and harassment for smearing what was later determined to be his own faeces on the woman’s face.
An additional charge of a hate crime was later brought against Mr Abrokwa once he was in custody, as he had reportedly spat on a Jewish man and made anti-Jewish statements in Brooklyn last fall.
On Friday, less than a few weeks after being released from jail for his previous offences (he was let out of jail in early March on supervised release, a program that provides community-based supervision ahead of an accused person’s trial) Mr Abrokwa was arrested again for criminal mischief and harassment.
The 37-year-old reportedly went to a storage facility on Friday in Harlem and after a violent outburst with staff, began breaking windows with a dumbell and after shouting at staff.
Unlike for his previous offences, Mr Abrokwa is now being held after a judge set his bail for $5,000 (£3,772).
When combined with his earlier offences of the subway smear attack and the hate crime in Brooklyn, police say that Mr Abrokwa has a total of 44 prior arrests, one felony conviction and 10 misdemeanor convictions.