A Queens subway rider busted for sprawling across more than one seat was then linked to several recent frightening crimes against women, including groping three schoolgirls, police said.
Matthew Leon might still be on the streets had he not been caught lying across several seats on a No. 7 train in Flushing Monday afternoon, cops said.
That minor infraction is part of a list of subway rules NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced last week police will more strictly enforce as part of a new focus on quality-of-life offenses.
Leon, 25, was asked for identification so that he could be issued a summons but the ID, listing him as Matthew Klyn, was fake, police said.
Officers eventually determined his real name and realized he was wanted for two Manhattan subway attacks, both on Jan. 23, in which he allegedly punched two women in the face less than two hours apart on R trains near the Eighth St.-NYU station, police said.
The woman, 27 and 57, were minding their own business when Leon walked up to them and punched them, police said. They suffered minor injuries.
As Leon’s arrest was being processed in Queens Monday, police learned someone matching his description was also being sought for two incidents just six hours earlier, police said.
He allegedly confronted two girls, both 15, at Gates Ave. and Grandview Ave. in Ridgewood, police said.
Leon, who lives nearby in Bushwick, put his arms around the girls’ necks and held them tightly, then covered their mouths with his hands and kissed them on their cheeks as they screamed and tried to break free, according to police and a criminal complaint.
A few minutes later, he approached a 16-year-old girl seven blocks away at Himrod St. and Grandview Ave., grabbed her around the neck and kissed her neck, police and the complaint say.
The three victims all attend Grover Cleveland High School, located up the block from the second incident. All three told school officials what happened and police were called, with at least one victim later identifying Leon from a photo array, a police source said.
Leon was charged Tuesday with sex abuse, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child. He pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail.
Assault charges are expected to be filed in Manhattan Wednesday for punching the two women.
Leon has multiple prior arrests on his record, including one in which he resisted arrest, also for lying across several subway seats, police said. He also has several other sexual abuse arrests in which he allegedly groped women, police said.