Police charge man with attempted murder in ‘horrific’ Randall's Island beating

The NYPD Friday arrested a man in connection with what officials said was the brutal beating of a mother who was biking on Randall’s Island a week earlier. Officials said she was still fighting for her life.

Police charged 30-year-old Miguel Jiraud of Manhattan with attempted murder. The NYPD said he lived at a homeless shelter on Randall’s Island.

Attorney information for Jiraud wasn't immediately available Friday afternoon.

The woman, identified by her family as 44-year-old Diana Agudela, was riding an e-bike on her usual route back to Astoria from her job at a Manhattan museum the night of May 16 when she was attacked at around 11:30 p.m., according to police. They said she was discovered six hours later by a man walking his dog.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the assault “horrific.”

“We had a very aggressive investigation and we have identified a person that we believe to be responsible for that assault,” she said at an unrelated press conference Friday.

Agudela’s daughter, Stephanie Rodas, said her mother survived a dangerous surgery Thursday night and was scheduled for another on Friday.

“It's like a living nightmare,” she said. “She goes to the surgery, she comes out successfully, and then the next moment she needs another emergency surgery.”

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Agudela’s bike was recovered by a dive team Thursday. According to Rodas, her mother was found still wearing all her jewelry.

“It makes me realize that this wasn't just a robbery. This person intended to kill my mother,” she said.

Rodas said her mom preferred biking home instead of the train even though parts of the path weren’t well-lit, because she felt biking was faster and safer.

“She'd been seeing recently on the news that people were being pushed into the train,” Rodas said. “People were getting pushed, people were getting stabbed. The subway seemed like a dangerous path.”

Overall crime has fallen to historic lows in the transit system, but felony assaults have increased sharply in the last year, according to NYPD statistics.

“I'm always thinking someone is going to push me in and I'm pretty sure my mom had the same thoughts, and so she took the bike,” Rodas said.

Outside the transit system, felony assaults are at near-record highs. So far this year, there have been 10,505 of the dangerous attacks, which is slightly higher than last year, and the highest year-to-date figure for May in 28 years, according to police data.

Rodas said the Randall’s Island bike path is dangerously dark and called on the city to install more lights and cameras. A spokesperson for the parks department said it has not received any public calls for more lighting.

This story has been updated with additional information.