Man arrested for death of woman in New York is dragged from angry crowd by police

Erin Pflaumer and Justin Finch

8 mins ago

KIPS BAY, Manhattan (PIX11) – A person suspected in connection with the death of a Manhattan woman was taken into custody Monday after NYPD officers pulled him from a crowd of angry neighbors.

Authorities said Yazmeen Williams’ body was found Friday night wrapped in a sleeping bag amidst trash about a block from the Straus Houses on East 27th Street in Kips Bay. The 31-year-old woman was shot to death, according to police.

According to authorities, surveillance video showed a man in a wheelchair using a handcart to transport Williams’ remains.

Several dozen people were seen mobbing the wheelchair-bound man before he was taken into custody at the Straus Houses on Monday. Neighbors first saw the man leave his home, called police and then detained him until officers arrived, sources told PIX11 News.

As can be seen in a video of the incident, the group verbally abused and grabbed the man while rescue workers carried him away on a stretcher.

Williams’ mother told PIX11 News that the community took out its pain and anger on the man.

“He took a beautiful young girl, erased her, took her life. He threw my daughter in a garbage bag. The whole community was upset because she didn’t deserve this. He is scum,” Nicole Williams said.

Police also found a gun after the man’s arrest. The New York Police Department has not yet released the man’s identity or his connection to Williams.