FAIRFIELD — A 34-year-old man training to be a Metro-North engineer is suspected of sexually assaulting a female passenger aboard a train on Tuesday morning, officials said.
Manny Ramos, of Brooklyn, N.Y., has been in the engineer training program since March 2013. He is currently suspended without pay, said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan.
Metro-North hired Ramos as coach cleaner in October 2011. Authorities have not said what charges Ramos is facing.
A woman on a train from Grand Central to New Haven told the train crew that she was sexually assaulted. The train was stopped at the Fairfield Station at 9:09 a.m. and was released at 9:46 a.m., said Donovan.
The woman had been asleep and awoke to Ramos doing something inappropriate, Fairfield Police Chief Gary McNamara said.
Fairfield police and MTA police met the train and located the alleged victim. Other officers canvassed the area for the suspect.
Fairfield Police Sgt. Christopher Ioli located Ramos, who fit the description of the suspect, on the Unquowa Road bridge. Witnesses who were in the train car at the time of the incident confirmed that Ramos was the perpetrator, McNamara said.
Ramos was turned over to MTA police.
“These incidents are rare, but unfortunately at times they do occur,” said McNamara. “We encourage people to be aware of their surroundings, to watch out for each other while you are anywhere or on mass transit.”
By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY and HILDA MUÑOZ