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WASHINGTON - A naked man who police said assaulted two passengers while on board a D.C. Metro train was tasered by officers and taken into custody Thursday morning in the District.
The incident happened at about 6 a.m. on a railcar that left the Gallery Place Metro station. Phillips Blanks shot video of the incident and told FOX 5 that he first spotted the naked man, later identified by officials as 24-year-old Deon Toye, inside of the Gallery Place station before the train arrived.
Blanks told FOX 5 that he and Toye boarded the same train. At train's first stop, Toye exited the railcar, according to Blanks. Toye then entered a second train car and that's where Blanks said he captured video of Toye striking a passenger, later identified as Daniel Clark. The victim told FOX 5 he was trying to ignore Toye when the assault took place.
"I knew he was right there. I just wasn't trying to give him the entertainment. I thought that was what he was doing it for, pure entertainment, but I guess he really had a bad morning," Clark told FOX 5.
Clark suffered a gash under his eye, a black eye and cuts to his hands as he attempted to defend himself. Clark got off the train at the Dupont Circle station and went to the station's manager for help and said the manager didn't believe him that a naked man was attacking passengers.
"He looked at me like I was crazy until he saw the naked guy come up the escalator," Clark said.
Metro Transit Police told FOX 5 they were notified about the assault at 5:38 a.m. and officers arrived at the station and confronted Toye at 5:48 a.m. An officer attempted to take Toye into custody by the suspect grabbed a trash can as a shield and attempted to run away, according to officials. The officer tasered Toye and was able to place him under arrest.
Clark and others questioned why it took officers so long to respond and why Toye wasn't stopped before he boarded the train.
"Why was there no transit (police) at Gallery Place to get this guy the second they saw him?" Clark questioned. "Even if it's 5 in the morning and there's not a lot of people at the station you still need some kind of police presence. You don't think to have at least one officer there?"
Metro officials addressed the concern following the attack and claimed that having an officer at every station wasn't realistic.
"We would love to have an officer at every station and on every train and every bus, it's not realistic," Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said.
Wiedefeld told FOX 5 he was looking into the response time of officers. Metro Transit Police Chief Ronald Pavlik told FOX 5 Toye admitted to being under the influence of a controlled substance. FOX 5 captured Toye being taken out of the Metro station on a stretcher as he screamed and shouted.
Toye, of District Heights, has been charged with robbery and making threats, according to officials.
FOX 5 has learned this past Monday, Toye was charged in Prince George's County after he drove a car into a pole along Suitland Road, which caused the vehicle to flip. He then got out of the car and ran from the scene before officers apprehended him a short distance away.
Toye also has an extensive criminal record in Charles County. He has been charged with:
2013: Assault
2015: Failure to obey officers
2015/2016: Disorderly conduct
2016: Theft
2016: Trespassing
2016: Resisting arrest