MANHATTAN — A man pepper sprayed a 10-year-old girl and another straphanger aboard an E train over the weekend, the NYPD said.
Dasheen Simpkins, 24, sprayed the girl and another woman aboard the Queens-bound train near the Lexington Avenue-53rd Street stop about 12:20 p.m. Saturday, police and prosecutors said.
The girl’s mother told investigators she saw Simpkins spray her daughter and another woman in the face and body, though it’s unclear what set him off, police and prosecutors said.
Simpkins was later arrested by a transit sergeant at the 46th Street M/R station in Astoria and charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child, the NYPD said.
Officers found pepper spray in his pants pocket, according to a criminal complaint.
He has 25 prior arrests and was previously convicted of menacing, according to police and prosecutors.
Simpkins was ordered held on $30,000 bail at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.
He’s being held at the Manhattan Detention Complex and is next due in court on Friday, records show.
His lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.
