The NYPD has arrested and charged a new suspect in connection with a series of assaults on women at the Morgan Ave. L Station.
The arrested suspect, Khari Covington, 29, has been accused of attacking nine women since August of 2020. He was charged with eight counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of robbery as a hate crime, according to Rodney Harrison, the NYPD Chief of Detectives.
Covington’s arrest cleared the name of Benny Watts, 50, who had previously been arrested in connection with the attacks.
The most recent string of assaults started on Nov. 17, when a woman was attacked from behind on the stairs of the Morgan Ave. L Station. Similar assaults happened at the same location on Dec. 11, 26 and 28.
The woman who was attacked on the 28th, Bianca Fortis, posted about the assault on Instagram.
“I was assaulted yesterday while exiting my train station (Morgan Ave.) in the early evening,” Bianca wrote. “It was so quick that I hardly know what happened. I am the fourth woman to be attacked at that station in the last month — I just got really unlucky.”
Another victim, Manal Guennad, 26, was attacked on Jan. 2 around 9 p.m. Guennad was pushed against a wall at the Morgan Ave. Station and beaten on the head, she told WABC.
Two days later, Monday, Jan. 4, a man who appears to be Covington was caught on camera rushing into Bushwick’s Sunflower Glass Company smoke shop and attacking the 27-year-old woman working behind the counter.
The video was posted by Hawk Newsome, a prominent figure in the New York Chapter of Black Lives Matter. The video reportedly helped NYPD detectives find and arrest Covington.
“He was apprehended because of your social media posts! We honor NYC Activism for spreading the word and keeping our community safe,” Newsome wrote in a separate Instagram post that followed Covington’s arrest.
Covington’s arrest on Tuesday was captured on video by ABC7NY reporter CeFaan Kim.
29-year-old Khari Covington. Arrested for punching women at Brooklyn subway station. Charged with 7 counts of assault as hate crime. 2 counts attempted robbery as hate crime outside subway. Sources say was targeting light-skinned women. Lives at nearby homeless shelter. pic.twitter.com/PgdpQvQipu
— CeFaan Kim (@CeFaanKim) January 6, 2021
Image obtained from Wiki Commons
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