A woman whose identity was not revealed by the police is grateful to a brave stranger who rescued her from a potential mugger on Tuesday in the New York City subway system. The woman called the unknown vigilante a “hero” for standing up against a mugger who was targeting her for money while she tried to get to her home. She believes that the city’s subway system has become an unsafe place for riders such as herself, blaming the situation on the lack of serious punishments for habitual offenders who lurk at subway stations and threaten the safety of commuters.
The frightening ordeal began when the woman encountered a homeless man, Matthew Roesch, who had held the emergency gate open for her as she went through the 49th Street station, near Times Square. After going through, Roesch followed her, asking for money. Refusing to give in to the demands, she kept walking, but the unrelentless would-be mugger followed her, getting closer and demanding her belongings. As the stranger continued to threaten her, the woman remembered, “I was terrified, I was feeling fear, panic.”
New York resident John Rote has been arrested and faces years in prison for using a gun to scare away a homeless man trying to attack a woman.
Rote has no prior arrests of any kind. New York transit chief Richard Davey says “We don’t tolerate this kind of conduct in NYC Transit,…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 10, 2023
Smiling vigorously as though he would carry out the threat, Roesch continued to ask for her money. It was at this point that the unknown vigilante, John Rote, appeared at the scene with a gun in his hand. Surveillance footage showed Rote taking out the gun from his pocket and waving it at the homeless man, commanding him to desist from his intentions.
The video showed that the first shot had no effect on the criminal, who kept asking for money while getting closer to the woman. In an attempt to scare Roesch away, Rote fired several rounds in the subway. After two rounds of gunshot, the criminal, who is known to the police, backed away, giving the lady a chance to run away for safety.
The relieved woman hollered inside an MTA maintenance room, “I was ready for anything, to fight for my life in any way. The gun was pointed in my direction, and that’s all I saw. It was a feeling of pure terror that I don’t wish on anyone.” The MTA worker was quick to barricade the door, preventing any further violence from either Roesch or Rote.
NEW: New York man John Rote has been arrested after he saved a woman from getting robbed by a homeless man in a Manhattan subway station.
The current state of New York City.
On Tuesday evening, Rote noticed that a woman was getting robbed and immediately jumped into action. The… pic.twitter.com/1vbhjowNpl
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 9, 2023
After fleeing the subway, fearing arrest, Rote was tracked down by police through a surveillance footage of him in the subway. During his arrest, he recounted his side of the story, admitting to the shooting and saying that the homeless man had been terrorizing people in the subway for some time. He added that he had thrown the gun into the East River before going to work the morning after the incident.
The woman, who was terrified that the gun might harm her, disclosed that she would have preferred another means of deviating Roesch’s intentions other than carrying a gun. She also praises the brave stranger for his intervention. “Honestly, I am against people carrying weapons with them around the city,” she said. She also spared some criticisms for the MTA for the unsafe and uncomfortable condition of the system, which she says create a place for criminal activities to thrive.
