Suspected farebeater caught carrying loaded gun: police sources

Cops recovered a loaded firearm from a man they initially nabbed this week for alleged farebeating in The Bronx, police sources said. Xavier Williams, 31, was arrested Wednesday at the Brook Avenue “6” train subway station at East 138th Street in Mott Haven, the law enforcement sources said. Williams was spotted by an eagle eyed officer entering the subway system around 2:20 p.m.

via an emergency gate in order to skip the fare, the sources said. When police tried to take Williams into custody, he allegedly resisted arrest and tried to make a run for it, the sources said. After cops finally fitted the suspect for handcuffs, they also spotted a loaded gun with six .38 caliber bullets tucked in his waistband, the sources told The Post.

Williams has five previous arrests, the sources said, including four felonies. He had been on probation for a 2022 gun arrest, the sources added. Williams was charged with criminal possession of a weapon — a loaded firearm, court records show. He’s being held at Rikers Island on $10,000 bail, according to court records.

“A fine example of our Transit cops’ unrelenting efforts to confront lawlessness head on: a gun toting man on probation for weapons possession beat the subway fair today [Wednesday] and tried fleeing. A prolonged struggle on the platform thankfully ended with the armed felon in custody,” NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper posted on X.

“This is a prime example why police going after the so called little things matter,” said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “We used to see this all the time in the 1990, which made subway riding much safer. And the City Council wants to relax farebeating enforcement!” A woke Queens lawmaker is looking to get the jump on fare beating by having cops hand out flyers for low cost transit programs to scofflaws.

A bill introduced in April by City Councilwoman Selvena Brooks Powers (D) would require NYPD officers in subway stations to carry leaflets detailing reduced fare options such as Fair Fares and how to apply to the programs. After fare beaters are arrested or slapped with $100 tickets for not paying the $2.75 subway fee, cops would then give them the informational literature..