Judge Jeanine Pirro covered a horrific story stemming out of Philadelphia this week as a woman was allegedly assaulted on a train while people refused to help her – instead, they put up their cell phones to record video of it.
The details of the report are somewhat gruesome as a 35-year-old man was accused of r-ping a woman on a SEPTA train while other passengers became onlookers instead of heroes.
SEPTA spokesperson, Andrew Busch, said the following: “The assault was observed by a SEPTA employee, who called 911, enabling SEPTA officers to respond immediately and apprehend the suspect in the act.”
The suspect was identified as Fiston Ngoy, an illegal immigrant with prior crimes.
SEPTA police believe Ngoy assaulted, groped, and r-ped the women on the train while it made at least two dozen stops. The SEPTA police also suggest that none of the witnesses to the crime had called the police, but they are conducting investigations to gather more information.
The situation had gone on for so long that when police finally arrived, they had to pull the suspect off the woman during the last stop. The cops only took about three minutes to arrive, but the assault had been going on for much longer.
SEPTA Police Chief Thomas J. Nestel III said, “What we want is everyone to be angry and disgusted and to be resolute about making the system safer.”
Pirro’s statements on the criminal act were quite telling, revealing her thoughts on the situation and the lack of response by onlookers who watched the woman suffer.
UPDATE: Local police issued a statement saying it is “not true” that people recorded the crime.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer denied that anyone recorded the woman being assaulted. He said, “There is a narrative out there that people sat there on the El train and watched this transpire and took videos of it for their own gratification… That is simply not true. It did not happen. We have security video from SEPTA that shows that is not the true narrative.”
However it remains unclear how he is able to prove that, because in 2021, people are likely recording almost every crime they witness. Time will tell if someone releases a video.