MTA worker arrested for staging a fake robbery: Officials

An MTA worker was arrested and charged Wednesday for staging a robbery of her subway booth at a station in Queens on Saturday, officials said.

Tracy King, 48, of Jamaica, Queens, was arrested for the fake hold-up, in which she was bound and gagged with duct tape, allegedly telling police a man had shoved a gun in her face and demanded access to the cash in her booth in the 111th Street station on the No. 7 line, official said.

Also arrested was her friend of 10 years, Anthony Brown, 42, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, who officials said tied up her up to make the incident look like a robbery, then swiped about $4,000 in cash from the subway station booth, the Queens District Attorney's office said.

"Instead of being the alleged victim of a gunpoint robbery at her job, the MTA employee charged in this case is accused of staging the purported robbery and splitting the proceeds of the crime with an accomplice," said Queens DA Richard Brown.

King faces charges of grand larceny, defrauding the government and conspiracy. Brown faces charges of burglary, robbery, kidnapping, criminal impersonation and others.

The alleged fake hold-up was first reported over the weekend, after King had told police a man dressed in MTA garb asked if he could use her microwave, officials said. She added that King told police he threatened her with a black revolver and a stun gun, then bound her with duct tape and stole the cash.

According to officials, Anthony Brown has copped to the staged crime, telling police that King asked him if he "wanted to make money," then detailing how they would carry out the crime, the Queens DA said, adding that it was King's idea to be bound, otherwise police "would not believe that she had been robbed." Police said Brown never had any weapons.

Police allegedly found the duct tape and a plastic container to King's subway booth that had Brown's fingerprints. Officials then searched the apartment of Brown's girlfriend, where they found $2,334 in cash, as well as the MTA outfit he wore during the alleged staged robbery, officials said.

Both King and Brown face up to seven years behind bars. The MTA workers union declined to comment.