Brooklyn Cop Assaulted On 1st Day Of New 'Single Patrol' Subway Policy

BROOKLYN, NY — The NYPD will tweak a plan to have officers patrol the city's subways alone after a Brooklyn cop was thrown down the stairs in the first day of the new policy, according to officials.

The assault unfolded when the transit cop asked a 24-year-old man to put out a cigarette on a Pennsylvania Avenue station platform in East New York around 6:45 p.m., just hours after Mayor Eric Adams and police unveiled the "single patrol" policy at a press conference, police said.

The 24-year-old, identified as Alex Eremin, refused and instead threw himself down the stairs, police said. When the officer tried to help him, Eremin grabbed the cop and tried to pull him down the rest of the staircase, trying multiple times to take his gun, according to police.

"The incident ... is a reminder that there are individuals who have no respect for the law or those who enforce it," NYPD officials said. "A police officer should be able to instruct someone not to smoke on a subway platform without that resulting in a serious altercation."

Eremin, who police said is homeless, faces attempted robbery, assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, harassment and other charges, according to police.

Both he and the transit cop were sent to the hospital after the incident, police said.

The East New York assault will bring slight changes to the "single patrol" policy, which the mayor and NYPD top brass had lauded as a way to increase the number of stations cops could patrol at once.

Officers on solo patrol will now be required to stay in sight of one another when they spread out, according to the NYPD and mayor.

Adams contended the sight-line rule will mean officers can still reach more areas of a station or subway train while being close enough that they can offer back-up to one another if needed.

"We’re not going to be so rigid that we’re not going to adjust to accomplish the task that we need," he said when asked about the assault on Wednesday.

The single patrol policy comes as city officials grapple with an ongoing spike in subway crime that has left many straphangers terrified to use the transit system.

"We're answering what passengers ask for, to make sure we have that omni-presence [of police]," said the mayor earlier this week, noting that he used to work single patrol as a transit cop

The solo approach was discontinued in 2014 after the murder of two officers, according to reports.