Toronto Police seek suspect wanted in violent subway robbery as TTC crime soars

A chaotic week of crime on the TTC continues with a report that Toronto Police are seeking a suspect wanted in a robbery investigation after a violent purse-snatching attack at Broadview subway station on Monday.

Police from 55 Division received a call for a robbery at Broadview station on Monday evening just before 7 p.m., with reports that an unknown assailant snatched a female victim's purse with such force that it caused her to fall down a flight of stairs. The suspect then fled the scene with the purse.

The suspect is described by police as 40-50 years old, standing 5'6", with short dark hair, and was last seen wearing a pale green jacket and beige pants.

Police have released images and a short clip of the suspect, and are seeking the public's assistance in identifying him.

Anyone with information about the suspect's identity is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.

News of the attack comes amid an unprecedented crime wave on TTC property and joins a growing list of shocking incidents to have unfolded on public transit in just the last week.

The string of attacks continued into Wednesday with an early-morning incident at Dundas subway station where a pair of TTC workers were chased by an assailant wielding a syringe. That same day, a 16-year-old was stabbed on a bus at Old Mill station and left with serious injuries.

Those Wednesday attacks come on the heels of yet another TTC stabbing the day before when a 43-year-old woman stabbed a random 20-year-old female victim on a Spadina streetcar.

The problem of criminal activity on public transit has become such an issue in Toronto that people have even begun taking it upon themselves to post sarcastic and very fake TTC safety ads on the subway.