Woman accused of pushing tourists onto Manhattan subway tracks linked to similar crime

Editor's note: The above video originally aired on Aug. 5, 2024.

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) --- The emotionally disturbed woman accused of pushing two tourists onto the subway tracks in Manhattan this week is a suspect in a similar crime in Brooklyn, authorities said Friday.

Ebony Butts, 42, was arraigned Thursday on assault charges after allegedly shoving two Mexican tourists onto the tracks in the Delancey Street-Essex Street subway station on the Lower East Side at around 2:15 a.m. Monday, authorities said.

"This case is every New Yorker's nightmare and easily could have been a double homicide," prosecutors said in court.

The tourists were standing on the F line platform when Butts allegedly shoved one woman and pushed the other one as she helped her friend off the tracks, cops said. The two 28-year-old women suffered minor injuries.

A good Samaritan helped pull the tourists onto the platform before a train arrived while passengers and officers detained Butts at the scene, officials said.

"Had a train come into the station sooner or had the two women not received help from another rider, this would be an even graver case," prosecutors said in ...