Man sought in Brooklyn shooting had a gun when caught for fare evasion at Coney Island subway station, said cops
A person of interest in a Brooklyn shooting was armed with a loaded .357 magnum pistol when officers arrested him for fare evasion at the Coney Island subway station, cops said Thursday.
It was the second time in two days that cops found a gun on someone trying to skirt the fare at the Stillwell Ave. stop, police and MTA officials said.
Wilfredo Serrano, 20, was caught entering the station through the exit gate at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, said police.
When cops patted him down, they found the loaded revolver in his pocket, police said.
Serrano is a person of interest in a recent Coney Island shooting, police sources said. As of Thursday, he hadn’t been formally charged for that incident.
In the other Stilwell Ave. gun arrest this week, cops arrested 23-year-old Kayvill Volitan when they caught him trying to enter the Stillwell Ave. station through an exit gate at 4:50 p.m. Tuesday, police said.
Volitan had a loaded .22-caliber pistol in his pants, said police. He is a known gang member and was wanted for a crime in Coney Island, cops said.
His capture was one of five arrests in the city’s transit system Tuesday, said MTA spokesman John McCarthy.
“Tuesday’s arrests demonstrate the value of police officers being deployed in large numbers on trains, in stations and at subway entrances,” McCarthy said.
As of Sunday, NYPD transit officers were fighting a 41% jump in crime on the city’s subways this year, which includes a 33% jump in robberies, from 357 muggings this time last year to 477 so far this year, and a 16% jump in assaults, from 370 to 431, cops said.
