Philly DA charges man with assault for stabbing in SEPTA’s 15th Street Station

A 33-year-old man who authorities say stabbed a man in the back multiple times in the 15th Street SEPTA subway station on Thursday morning has been charged with aggravated assault and related crimes.

Jason Howard attacked the 28-year-old victim after a confrontation around 4 a.m., a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office said Friday.

Both men were experiencing homelessness and likely taking shelter in the subway station when they apparently got into an argument and Howard pulled out a knife, authorities said.

The victim ran to the street and was able to get to a hospital, where he was treated for his injuries, authorities said. Initially, authorities had said Thursday the stabbing happened on the street and that the victim then ran into the subway station.

Police reviewed surveillance footage and a SEPTA police officer later spotted Howard at the station, wearing the same clothing as the assailant in the video, as he stepped off a train on the Market-Frankford Line, said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch. Philadelphia police arrested Howard on the 1500 block of Walnut Street shortly after, he said.

Police recovered a knife that Howard was carrying, authorities said. He is being held on $275,000 bail.