A Brooklyn teen was arrested this week for allegedly placing pieces of metal onto the subway tracks and causing mini explosions. Keyshawn Brown, 16, was arrested Tuesday and charged with criminal mischief, arson and reckless endangerment for placing a metal railsign across the subway tracks at Nostrand Avenue last week. You can see video of that particular incident below.
One of the big questions surrounding this incident, as well as several other incidents, is how he and his fellow subway fanatics (who called themselves "Rain Fan Conquerers") were so well-versed in MTA protocol, and even gained access to train keys. Well, it turns out that Brown's mother is an MTA conductor.
A police source told this to the Post, and Sally, the mother of the teen who was attacked by the group with a brake handle, confirmed it to us. But she insists Brown's mother isn't to blame:
Yes—we all knew that his mom worked for MTA. But we were not trying to put her name in this as she is innocent and we are not trying to jeopardize her job!!! It was not because of her that they all got involved in the train culture. Many of these kids like my son have dreams of working for the MTA. And many of these kids go to Transit Tech High School. Keyshawn goes to Edward R. Murrow High School. With the many friends they have at Transit Tech, this is also how they get hold of the keys. And the MTA does not have the most upgraded tech equipment and video surveillance. These kids like my son have been taking the trains their whole life, so they know which stops have video & which stops do not. They know where to run so they are not caught.
Sally, who created a Facebook page called PAMTABullying to track their alleged crimes, told us that when her son "decided he did not want to be their 'fall' guy anymore that is when the bullying started." She says that on February 15th, the group of six teens hit her son in the back of the head "with a stolen motorman's brake handle - almost 3 lbs of steel."
She added: "I did have to bring him to the hospital. The sad thing is that this kid Keyshawn slept over my house like 3 days before he did this to my son."
These were just two in a series of similar train incidents that allegedly involved Brown. A subway motorman, who asked to remain anonymous, told us Brown and his friends caused extensive damage to seven trains stored in Queens a few months ago: "They pull emergency brakes on trains and run off. They have keys to the operators cabs. NYPD doesn't seem to want to do anything."
He adds: "They commit the crimes and then brag about it on the Internet (mostly Facebook) until someone says something and it is taken down...They have been messing around stealing rollsigns for a few months now," he said. "I've spoken to the police myself, and was told they have to be caught in the act. They have train keys. They go in unoccupied cabs and make announcements. They activate emergency brakes and run off trains."
You can see two examples of the Facebook bragging below.
That part about the teens going into unoccupied cabs is especially important because of another video of teens running wild on a train that has come to light: you can see a video below, received by PIX11, of a teen "inside a subway’s crew cab, apparently pushing buttons and playing with a panel as the train travels along the track." This person appears to be doing exactly what the subway motorman described. The MTA says the police are investigating this incident.
The teens allegedly involved in all of these incidents are also allegedly the same ones in the video below who were electrocuted while putting a sign on the tracks back in February.
The MTA has not responded to requests this week for comment on the incidents.
