PATH Service Suspended When 2 Men Flee Down Train Tracks, Police Say

HOBOKEN, NJ — PATH riders on the JSQ and HOB lines experienced delays due to a “police activity” that temporarily suspended the two lines on Friday morning, authorities said.

A Port Authority spokesman provided Patch a statement about the incident, which allegedly started with a dispute between two men in their 20s aboard a moving train entering the 33rd Street station.

When the train pulled into the station, the two men fled from police down the train tracks southbound towards 23rd Street in the tunnel, spokesman Joseph Pentangelo stated.

Port Authority police officers later spotted the suspects near 6th Avenue and 23rd Street, at which point they took off running. Officers apprehended one of the men three blocks away on 20th Street, but the other suspect was still at-large as of 11:22 a.m.

Following protocol, officers swept the tracks after the incident, Pentangelo said.

The suspect – later identified as Matthew Forty, 22, of Jersey City – was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest, Pentangelo said.

None of the parties suffered injuries during the encounter, Pentangelo said.

“Due to a police activity, PATH service on the JSQ-33rd St line and HOB-33rd St line are both suspended,” the Port Authority of NY/NJ stated in a 10:15 a.m. alert.

The same message was repeated at 11:09 a.m.

Port Authority officials issued an update at 11:13 a.m. informing riders that NJ Transit will cross honor PATH tickets at Newark Penn Station and Penn Station 33rd St., NYC.

PATH service resumed on the affected lines around 11:21 a.m.