Nearly three months after Bew Jirajariyawetch, 23, was brutally attacked and robbed in a New York City subway, her alleged assailant has finally been caught.
On Thursday, Kevin Douglas, 40, was arrested and charged with second-degree robbery, third-degree robbery, and second-degree assault, according to the New York Post.
Douglas is accused of viciously attacking Jirajariyawetch around 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 22 at the subway platform in the Herald Square station.
Video surveillance shows a man attacking Jirajariyawetch from behind. He is choking her with one arm and pulls her to the ground. The man steals the woman's purse, but still savagely punches Jirajariyawetch in the face.
The beating left the woman bloody and bruised.
Jirajariyawetch – an aspiring model and fashion designer – had just come to the United States from Thailand only a few months before the barbarous battering.
"I’m just glad that I’m still alive," she told the Post.
Upon learning of the arrest of her alleged attacker, she said, "Nothing can change what happened to me but I am happy to know he can not do this to someone else."
Eric Parnes – Jirajariyawetch's lawyer – said, "Although this took an incredible amount of pressure and time to lead to an arrest, it does show that when the police and prosecutors are allowed to do their job without illogical restraints people can have some sense of hope that things can be better."
Douglas is no stranger to being arrested. Before his last arrest, Douglas had reportedly been arrested 44 times on charges that included drugs, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, robbery, and criminal tampering. On May 13, 2019, Douglas was arrested 16 times, according to the New York Post.
The same day that he mugged the Thai model, he was allegedly arrested for an afternoon clobbering of a 34-year-old woman when he punched her in the face.
On Thursday, Douglas was arraigned on the latest charges in Manhattan Supreme Court before Judge Curtis Farber, who set bail at $75,000. Douglas is scheduled to appear in court on April 11 for the subway mugging.
According to NYPD data, robberies are up by nearly 35% in New York City compared to last year at this point. Burglaries are up 11% and felony assault increased year-over-year. Crimes committed in the city's transit system are up a whopping 74% this year.
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