The NYPD says the woman who allegedly threw a D train into chaos when she released a container full of crickets and worms has turned herself in. Police say Zaida Pugh was arrested today on reckless endangerment, false reporting of an incident and disorderly conduct charges. Authorities issued a warrant for the 21-year-old actress yesterday after she admitted that she staged the incident in an attempt to go viral and bring attention to how people who are homeless are treated on the subway.
Meanwhile, the incident is also highlighting the role of emergency brakes in the transit system. A rider activated the brake after the bugs were thrown on a packed Brooklyn-bound D train last Wednesday, trapping people in the subway car over the Manhattan Bridge. Transit officials say the brake usually delays the arrival of help and should not be used in between stations. The MTA says it should instead be used as a last resort, for example when someone is caught in a closing door at a station. What do you say tonight?
What’s your reaction to the charges against the woman accused of creating panic on board a crowded rush hour train? What would you have done in that situation? Have you ever felt unsafe or fearful while on the subway? Do you often see people who are homeless on trains? How do you think they are treated by straphangers?
Kimberly’s Thoughts
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us tonight…an interesting discussion on a very talk-about story. Personally, I do not see this woman’s point – nor do I think what she did was “performance art.” You can argue that she shouldn’t be charged for what she did, but we must consider her mental health. As many of you mentioned tonight, this is not the first time she’s pulled a prank like this – taking it so far as to joke about murdering a child on her youtube page.
When I was in college, a professor of mine told me about a student who pretended to be pregnant and went to sit at a bar. After she had several drinks, people started to question her – eventually leading to a fight. The woman on the D train is lucky her “prank” did not escalate to a level that hurt others.
If she really was trying to make a statement about homelessness, there are plenty of other ways to go about it.
Your thoughts posted below.
Viewer E-mails
What do I say? I'm laughing at her, and hope that the legal system has her jumping through hoops for months over this, and spending her time and her money dealing with these consequences until she's sorry she ever rode a New York City subway.
Where does this self-styled "activist" and "performance artist" get off insinuating her message on riders who want nothing more than to get to work in peace and safety? Having seen her interview in the newspaper after the incident, I'm convinced that she's got a screw loose somewhere in the head, but she seems to know right from wrong, and should be made to pay a penalty for what she did.
And if anything, her antics have made me LESS sympathetic to the homeless that we see on the subways, and more prone to shun them.
Good job, crazy lady.
Bruce
Upper West Side
As a former front-line supervisor that has dealt with situations like this, I have absolutely no sympathy for the "actress."
Throw the book at Ms. Pugh. Her "act" was one of monumental stupidity, recklessness & irresponsibility, and her lame excuses further lowlight her recklessness & self-absorption.
Prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
And folks, if you want help in the subway, don't pull the emergency cord unless your train is in or adjacent to a station.
PETE FROM MANHATTAN
The NYPD did the right thing when they arrested her, she made a lot of people late and caused panic on the train, that could be bad if someone has a weak heart.. I hope she's in the lock up until she learned her lesson... People should never pull the emergency break until their in the station, when they pull it make sure it's a real emergency, the trains get backed up and everyone is late getting to the terminal.. The NYPD should put all the homeless people in the shelter, The cold weather will be coming soon and more homeless people will be riding the trains making the cars smell bad.
Herman
Upper West Side
This stupid woman should be put in jail for a spell. She could have caused immeasurable harm by her ridiculous actions, such as heart attacks, asthma attacks and people falling and getting injured. We have enough to contend with in New York without attention-seeking fools pulling stupid stunts like this one.
Frances
East Village
She needs a mental check up.
Roscoe
Park Hill
3 words: I'd be angry! There's no good reason. And I Hate Bugs! Clare Rego Park
It's time to pull the word 'straphangers' from the commuting dictionary. It's way too seductive.
Did she swipe her Metrocard for each cricket? If not, she should spend the rest of the year in Rikers.
Michael in Greenpoint
Michael in Greenpoint
People are very afraid of bugs. Throwing them around will cause a panic. It's no different than yelling "fire" in a crowed movie theater. The should of charged her with reckless endangerment felony. People could of gotten hurt. Paul
I ride the nyc grains 6 days aweek. And each time there is an empty car there is a homeless person in that train car. I've also experienced homeless persons panhandling very aggressively.
This is definitely a major nyc train problem that needs to be addressed.
Also don't pull the emergency cord unless someone is in danger of losing a limb or falls in tracks.
Pulling the emergency cord will only delay service and not send you the needed help you seek.
The woman with the bugs was very wrong she also urinated in front of everyone.
Andre
New Yorkers use the subway to get to and from work, doctors appointments and many other reasons. I used the subway daily for a long time to visit a dying relative in a hospice. I would NOT have appreciated this kind of deliberate drama increase my stress level and delay my journey. People who cause disruptions on the subway trains should be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. Maybe then they will realize that it is not all about them and they have no business causing stress and fear and delay to other people. Vickie, Sty Town
There is nothing amusing or even forgivable about the subway mayhem started as a lark. The perpetrator needs to be arrested and serve time in jail. There is little that's more important than protecting the public in public places with temporarily closed access. The threat to health and well being of all those 'captured' in a closed space for even a limited period of time is clearly the perpetrayor's playing with fire. This is a serious threat to the safety of the public.
ruth
After seeing the video it appeared to me that a young man aggressively knocked the box of insects out of the woman's hand and began chasing her. Just because she confessed doesn't mean that her perspective was accurate . I believe that she is and was mentally disturbed and should have a psychiatric evaluation. The cops took her to a psych hospital but what happened then? No exam, right? If she's found to be mentally ill the charges are too harsh. I think they want to make an example of her. I wouldn't have wanted to be there and it must have been traumatic but let's get all the facts before we condemn. Meryl from manhattan
That woman needs to face criminal charges for her act she pulled and the fact that she.isnt facing any repercussions. The NYPD as of this writing has not done anything to hold her accountable, someone could have gotten hurt had a panic attack or something. That was not a smart thing she did. Robert
This foolish woman endangered everyone's life by pulling a life threatening prank and NY. 1 is aiding and abetting her cause by giving her tons of publicity she would not get otherwise! Shame on you!
Raybo
uws
If you look at the video there is a black boy in a light blue T shirt who seems to come up to her and smash the bowl of whatever vermin she was carrying out of her hand and that seems to be when everything went flying all over the train. It actually looks like although she did a truly idiotic thing, there were two or three young men attacking her during the event. Let me know if this is the case.
And by the way….. homeless people basically run amok on the trains. They rant, they rave, they spread filth everywhere, the fill the cars with stink and filth, leave food everywhere, smoke and urinate on the trains, and are a health hazard. I know its know their fault, but basically they are left alone to roam and ramble on the trains to the detriment of everyone else. Jeffrey
This woman has made other "prank" videos. They're all ridiculous. She didn't do this to bring attention to the plight of homeless people, she did this to bring attention to herself. She deserved to be charged with disorderly conduct, at least. Rhonda from BK
Make the punishment fit crime.... she should have to eat the bugs. Christian
Agnus in Ridgewood is totally wrong. Back in the days that she is nostalgic about, straphangers would have slapped the living shit out of someone who did what that idiot did.
Frances
EV
Victim impact: not only the people in the car were affected but the entire train. Additionally, all trains behind were thrown off schedule. Engineers, etc were affected. No one person has the right to do this.
Jean
I have another point to make: the charges are appropriate and necessary. In this world as mentioned, being soft would encourage copycats, and I don't see the correlation between this incident and drawing attention to the homelessness issue. It make no sense. Thank you for listening. Clare
Rego Park
Not only was that the stupidest thing anyone could do. But what would have happen when those 3 punks that were in on it threw the bugs and those worms and crickets landed on somebody that was highly allergic to them? Their all morons. Denise, Richmond Hill
Seriously, I agree with Angus from Ridgewood. How are insects/bugs life threatening? Yeah, sure everyone has a little panic attack when bugs are in the room, and that's all it is. A panic attack! Not deadly. I appreciate the point this woman was trying to make in regards to homeless New Yorkers, but I believe she just went about it the wrong way. Again, a slap on the wrist. Citation? Maybe even community service, but charges? Really! When they're are people that should be charge for murders, and gets off all the time!!!!
While I agree that the woman and her accomplices who let bugs out in a subway car should face consequences for causing a disturbance, I also think that if she had been a white artist, instead of a woman of color, we'd be referring to this as "performance art" that went wrong, instead of "a prank."
Nancy, Upper West Side
Please..... Listen anyone who travels via public transportation on a daily basis has seen worse then this.... Not like she was playing knock out game, that's a far worse issue in this city.....Andrew
Anyone who is claiming that they were upset by this woman on the subway should move back top Iowa and stop causing my rent to increase. NYC is for the tough.
John, Kew Gardens
This woman needs to be taught a lesson that she will not forget . Since she stated that this stunt was to bring attention to the plight of the homeless I say let her be sentenced to 1 year of community service working with and hopefully helping the homeless Public transportation is just that there's no room for personal statements of this magnitude Mike in Chelsea
You should learn from major-league baseball. When an idiot fan jumps on the field the stations know better than to televise it. You have given this woman tons of credibility when she deserves none Dom Midtown
I agree with the caller who said people were over reacting with the pulling of the cord. Yes, she should be punished but not too heavily, this was a vile act. Still I'm kind of happy this happened, it gets people talking and may get change happening. Professor Rosenstock
The man who slapped the box from the girls hand should be charged because he is the one who started th panic in the subway car.
From Bernard of Queens
One more display of humans disregarding the lives of animals.
And in a closed space, putting other people’s lives in the line as well.
She has to do community service.
naila from Astoria
I believe that people have to make a living, but the gentleman that knocked off her worms off her hands should also be arrested.
Maggie from Washington heights