Man dragged down stairs, assaulted at Center City SEPTA station | VIDEO

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Disturbing surveillance video released by Philadelphia police shows a suspect dragging a man down the steps of a Center City SEPTA station and then assaulting him.

SEPTA police tell Action News that three suspects have been apprehended, but officers are still searching for a fourth person.

The video was captured last Thursday at the 15th Street Station at about 5 a.m.

Police said the 51-year-old male victim was on the platform when several men targeted him.

The attacker, who was wearing a blue hat, dragged him down the stairs and stole his cell phone and money.

Residents around the area say the excessive violence is shocking, and they are concerned for people's safety.

"People shouldn't have to go through that and they should feel safe in their own community. That's just sad," said Kanisha Jones from West Oak Lane.

While many are frightened by this latest assault, police say three of four suspects have been apprehended.

"We had police very close by, were able to apprehend three of the individuals shortly after the incident, still looking for the fourth," said Chuck Lawson, SEPTA's police chief. "It gets me angry that people continue to victimize our customers."

Lawson said two of the suspects were 16 years old, and one was 18 years old.

He also noted that juvenile crime has been an issue since the beginning of the year, but they've seen violent crimes such as robbery and aggravated assault drop over the last several months.

Officials say these violent crimes are down 31%.

"We're experiencing incredible success rebounding with our recruitment and retention. We're hitting a larger area over the system. We have more folks looking at cameras in real-time," said Lawson.

SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch also told Action News that overall crimes were down for the transit agency by 6%.

Despite this, commuters are still feeling uneasy.

"Now that it's dark, I feel like there should be more cops out here," said Naji Jordan from North Philadelphia. "And make sure more people are riding the train and make sure that we get home too."

"I believe SEPTA needs more security or more police officers as well, but we need to come together as a community and make sure our older people are safe," added Tifon Bailey from North Philadelphia.

This all comes amid a possible strike from SEPTA police officers in the union on Monday if a contract agreement isn't reached.

"We have also stated that we will agree to not strike if SEPTA will agree to binding arbitration to settle our contract dispute," the union president told Action News.

Regarding the contract, President of the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109 Omari Bervine released the following statement:

"Our fundamental issue is our inability to keep SEPTA's passengers and employees safe due to our dangerously low staffing levels. We are approx. 25% under our budgeted headcount, and this is due, in large part, to our inability to retain our officers; who routinely leave our department to take positions with other police departments in the area offering higher wages and better benefits and working conditions.

Our concern is that we will never achieve a fully staffed police department as long as we remain amongst the lowest-paying police jobs in the region. We are simply asking SEPTA to get serious about the safety of their passengers and employees, and commit to fully staffing its Transit Police department."

Anyone who recognizes the suspect in the video or has information about the crime is asked to call the police.

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