Detective expected to recover from head injury sustained in Times Square subway tunnel

An 18-year veteran of the NYPD was in stable condition yesterday after being knocked unconscious while saving an emotionally disturbed man from the Times Square subway tracks during rush hour yesterday morning.

Det. James Griffin, 41, who worked Truck One in the Emergency Services Unit, had been called to the station with his colleagues by transit cops to remove Richard Wilcox, 29, who had descended onto the tracks to pick up trash "because the tracks were dirty," said a police source.

After receiving a report that a person was on the tracks, the MTA shutdown north and southbound service of the N, Q and R trains from 34th St. to 59th Streets at 7:06 a.m., said an MTA spokesman.

After Wilcox refused requests to get off the tracks, Griffin descended with the ESU unit, a lieutenant from transit and another transit officer, but Wilcox refused to move to safety and resisted being moved. "It was a struggle. It's not a flat surface and when you're struggling you can be thrown off balance," said a police source. Griffin was knocked on to the tracks, cracking his head on a rail and bruising his arm in the melee. Fellow officers managed to subdue Wilcox and remove him and the injured Griffin from the tracks.

Both men were taken were taken to Bellevue Hospital. Wilcox was later charged with resisting arrest, criminal trespass, two counts of reckless endangerment, and obstruction of governmental administration.

Originally, the cops "were just trying to get him off the tracks. But when you start fighting and cause injury to an NYPD officer, you have to be charged," said the source, who said Wilcox was believed to be homeless. The tracks were shutdown for a total of 18 minutes.

The ESU is an elite unit of the NYPD including more than 400 officers trained to handle dozens of special situations, including hazardous materials containment, terrorism, barricaded suspects and emotionally disturbed people.