Prankster Who Tossed Crickets on D Train Arrested

A Brooklyn woman who tossed hundreds of live crickets and worms on a crowded D train last week as part of a prank was arrested Tuesday.

Zaida Pugh, 21, was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment, obstructing governmental administration and falsely reporting an incident.

Cellphone video of the incident showed panic as riders scrambled to avoid the critters. One passenger pulled the emergency brake, stranding the train on the Manhattan Bridge for 30 minutes. Pugh revealed it to be a prank the next day.

“I’m really sorry about everything,” Pugh said after her arrest. “I deserve it because I was wrong.”

Pugh, who was dressed up as a homeless person, had the stunt recorded. Once the train came into the station she was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and released. After she revealed the incident was a prank, police put out a warrant for her arrest.

“We thought she was an emotionally disturbed person, we took her to the hospital,” said Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce. “She went out and made further statements to the press that she’d done this on purpose.”

Pugh, who has a history of posting video pranks, said she wanted to draw attention to the plight of the homeless.

“It was to show how homeless people are treated,” Pugh said.

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the September 1st, 2016 edition of Hamodia.