Alleged Chinatown homeless killer indicted
BY MARK HALLUM
An indictment for brutal killings
of four homeless men in
Chinatown, allegedly by Randy
Santos, 24, moved forward with an announcement
from Manhattan District
Attorney Cy Vance.
Santos is charged with four counts of
murder and two for attempted murder
after he allegedly went on a rampage
with a metal bar in Chinatown during
the early morning hours of Oct. 5,
shaking the community and calling attention
to the need for better homeless
services.
The indictment includes an incident
eight days earlier in Chelsea, in which
Santos allegedly attempted to kill another
man.
“There is perhaps no population
more vulnerable to violence than the
growing number of unsheltered New
Yorkers who lack a safe place to sleep,”
Vance said. “As my Offi ce works to secure
justice for Cheun Kok, Anthony
Mason, Nazario Abdelardo Vazquez
Villegas, and a tragically still-unidentifi
ed neighbor, our City can further
honor their memories by delivering
secure housing to all New Yorkers. I
offer my heartfelt condolences to the
victims’ loved ones as our community
Doyers Street, near where four murders, allegedly by Randy Santos,
played out on Oct. 5.
begins to heal.”
Surveillance footage allegedly captured
Santos in the act of seeing Mason
sleeping before fetching a metal bar
and returning to bludgeon the man to
death, striking him in the head seven
times in front of 17 East Broadway.
PHOTO : MARK HALLUM/THE VILLAGER
Santos is accused of then crossing the
street to 2 East Broadway, where the
three other men were sleeping alongside
one another.
Using the same weapon, Santos allegedly
also began hitting these men,
killing Villegas and a man still unidentifi
ed almost a month later. One other
was injured in this stage of the attacks.
After abandoning the metal bar, Santos
allegedly came upon Cheun Kok
sleeping near Doyers Street, the DA
said. Santos is said to have gone back
for the bar he used on the other sleeping
men and struck Kok three times
before witnesses called 911.
Kok was pronounced dead at the
scene, according to the DA. While cops
were surveying the scene of Kok’s murder,
the survivor of the 2 East Broadway
attack came stumbling toward
emergency responders, who rushed
him to a nearby hospital with serious
injuries.
Santos himself was allegedly found
while still clutching the murder weapon
near Mulberry and Canal Streets, according
to the DA, and was arrested by
police from the 5th Precinct.
Santos was also identifi ed as the attacker
of another sleeping man near
Chelsea Piers on Sept. 27, according
to Vance. Santos allegedly struck the
victim in the head and neck before attempting
to throw him over the railing
and into the Hudson River.
The defendant, originally from the
Bronx, is being represented by Legal
Aid Society and the next court appearance
does not yet have a date.
Faster speeds set for 4/5/6 and M trains: MTA
BY VINCENT BARONE
The subway’s busiest line is about to get a little
faster.
The MTA has increased speed limits along
stretches of the Lexington Avenue line of the 4,5,6, according
to internal documents obtained by amNewYork.
Sections of track near Canal Street, 14th Street-Union
Square and stations north, including where the 4 and 6
stretch out into the Bronx, have received higher speed
limits as of this Friday. Speeds are also going up at two
portions along the M line in Queens and Brooklyn.
The changes are part of Transit President Andy Byford’s
“Save Safe Seconds” campaign to review speed
limits implemented in the subway system and replace
those found to be overly restrictive. The MTA had increased
limits at 150 sections of track in the subway
system as of this September, according to offi cials.
That effort has played a large role in helping the subway
system bounce back from a service crisis, with reliability
rates hitting highs the MTA hasn’t seen in years.
By Union Square, the speed limit on one track has
been increased from 20 to 28 mph; Near Canal Street,
another limit of 20 mph was increased to 25 mph.
Along the M, the biggest change announced Friday
was seen at the Fresh Pond Road station, where speeds
on certain tracks entering and exiting the station were
increased from 25 to 30 mph.
Besides just swapping signs, the MTA has to acclimate
train operators to the new limits. The authority
has also appointed new “Train Service Supervisors” as
part of Byford’s campaign to ride along with operators
and educate them of the changes.
Service is getting speedier on the 4 train in Manhattan, among other lines, according to the
MTA. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
Paul McPhee, MTA Transit’s chief offi cer of fi eld
operations, wrote in one internal document dated this
Friday that the campaign makes the subways more reliable
and improves on how many people the system can
move each day.
“By adhering to the guidelines and directions provided
PHOTO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
by these train service supervisors, train operators
will greatly improve our ability to safely provide faster,
more comfortable and more consistent service while
maximizing system capacity,” he said.
The MTA did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
Schneps Media October 31, 2019 3