Kevin Douglas pleads GUILTY: NYC man with 44 prior arrests attacked 1 more woman after robbing Thai model
Update: During a change of plea hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court Monday, July 19, Kevin Douglas admitted to pouncing on the young Thai model and stealing her belongings.
Douglas was charged after he brutally attacked Thai model Bew Jirajariyawetch on a subway platform on Nov 22, 2021. He has now struck a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors that would put him in prison for the next five years, The Post reported. Prosecutors will recommend Douglas, 40, get half a decade behind bars followed by two and a half years of post-release supervision, when he is sentenced in court August 9.
Jirajariyawetch is “pleased and grateful” with the outcome of the case, her attorney Eric Parnes said.
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MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Bew Jirajariyawetch, an aspiring Thai model was in for a shock of a lifetime when she stood on a deserted Manhattan subway platform on November 22, 2021. She was seen waiting for a subway train in Midtown on November 22 when Kevin Douglas, a criminal from Queens who has been arrested 44 times, including 16 times in a single day attacked her from behind and then robbed her.
In the surveillance footage, Douglas reportedly choked the aspiring model before dragging her and throwing her to the ground on the northbound platform. He then pinned her to the ground, punched her in the face and snatched her purse before casually walking away. According to the police, Douglas went on to commit another offense hours after the incident. Violent crime in general has surged in the city over the past year, with many different factors including increased tensions between the police and public, unemployment rates, soft-on-crime politicians and bail reform being cited as potential causes.
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On 11/22 at the Herald Square station, in this shocking video, suspect attacks 23YO Bew Jirajariyawetch on the platform. The suspect places her in a headlock, throws her to the ground then sexually assaults her before fleeing w/ her with her purse. (Video provided by attorney) pic.twitter.com/3xUge6AzOl
— Sarah Y. Kim (@Syissle) December 16, 2021
Later that Thursday, in 2021 Douglas barged into a 34-year-old woman's home and punched her in the face, this eventually led to his arrest on the same day, New York Post reported. He has been in jail since and was also charged on suspicion of the subway attack while being held in custody. Jirajariyawetch is relieved to hear the news of the arrest, “Nothing can change what happened to me but I am happy to know he cannot do this to someone else,” she said.
Eric Parnes, an attorney described the arrest as “inspiring”, the one that reinstates trust in the justice system. “Although this took an incredible amount of pressure and time to lead to an arrest, it does show that when the police and prosecutors are allowed to do their job without illogical restraints people can have some sense of hope that things can be better,” she said.
Who is Kevin Douglas?
The 40-year-old New York City man has 44 arrests on record before this incident. Douglas has 44 prior arrests and has been charged with drugs, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, robbery, and criminal tampering since 1997, according to the Post. He was arrested 16 times on May 13, 2019.
New York Police Department has not released his full rap sheet yet and has also not confirmed whether he was out on bail for a previous arrest while he attacked Jirajariyawetch or not. But he was put on trial in Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday on Feb 11 with bail set at $75,000. Douglas is now in police custody until his next court date set for April 11.