EAST VILLAGE, Manhattan (PIX11) — Cousins Zack Tahhan and Mo Cheikh said they weren’t able to sleep after Tuesday morning’s violent attack on a Brooklyn subway; the pair said they even talked about wanting to catch the suspect, Frank R. James, as they came into the city from New Jersey Wednesday morning.
And, according to Tahhan, the two did just that.
“We saw him and we said ‘oh my God,'” Tahhan said.
Tahhan said he and his cousin spotted the suspect walking in the East Village with a bag, and then warned other pedestrians not to approach him. That’s when they say they spotted police, flagged them down and pointed them toward James.
“[James] was walking as if he didn’t do anything, man,” Cheikh said.
The NYPD, MTA and TWU transit union offered a combined $50,000 reward for information that led to an arrest and conviction in the case. The NYPD on Wednesday declined to identify the tipster that led them to James’ location.
Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that James called to report his location to the police himself. They weren’t authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Chief of Department Kenneth Corey told The Associated Press that James was gone by the time officers got to the eatery, but they soon spotted him on a corner nearby.
Tahhan thanked the police for their quick action in catching James. Cheikh, who told reporters gathered near the scene he rides the subway, said his next ride is going to feel safer because of the arrest.
New York Attorney General Letitia James thanked Tahhan. She saw a video of him explaining what happened on Twitter.
“Thank you for your bravery today, Zack,” she tweeted. “All of New York is grateful.”
An original version of this article misspelled Zack Tahhan’s last name.
