Even as serious crime on SEPTA continues to plummet to historic lows, a special prosecutor appointed by the state Attorney General has started prosecuting incidents committed on the transit system in Philadelphia.
Despite criticism from some local elected officials and a lawsuit seeking to stop his work, prosecutor Michael Untermeyer has started taking control of cases that ordinarily would have been handled by the city’s District Attorney Larry Krasner.
Lawyers in the office of the Special Prosecutor for Mass Transit have filed 12 cases so far and are working on an additional 28, Attorney General Dave Sunday said Monday.
It’s apparently the first set of cases prosecuted by the new office, which was created last year under legislation signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro. Krasner sued to block the move, arguing that the law unconstitutionally infringes on residents’ right to elect their chief prosecutor. A court ruled against him and the matter is now before the state Supreme Court.
Untermeyer, a former assistant DA who ran for District Attorney in 2017 and Sheriff in 2023, was appointed to the special prosecutor position last June.
“The state legislature passed and the Governor signed Act 40 into law as a means to provide further protections for commuters who use mass transit in Philadelphia and SEPTA employees. I fully intend to use this tool to work towards a safer Pennsylvania,” Sunday said.
Krasner declined to comment Monday.
The AG’s office highlighted one of the cases being prosecuted, a stabbing on July 4 at the Berks El station in Kensington.
Surveillance video shows the defendant, 35-year-old Daniel Williams of Brookhaven, on the train platform with a knife in his hand, the Attorney General said in a statement. Williams is allegedly seen approaching a 66-year-old man from behind, stabbing him, and throwing away the knife as he flees.
Bystanders pointed responding police officers to Williams’ location and he was taken into custody, the statement said. He’s charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and other counts, according to court records. As of Monday, the victim was still in critical condition.
More resources, or a power grab?
Act 40 was sponsored by Sen. Wayne Langerholc, a Republican from Cambria County in west-central Pa., who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee.
The committee members toured SEPTA in 2021, and Langerholc later said law enforcement officials told him Krasner’s office was not following through on arrests made on the system. Those arrests are generally made by SEPTA’s own police force.
When the Senate approved the bill in May 2023, Langerholc said the special prosecutor “would address the sweeping inaction of the current Philadelphia District Attorney and ensure scofflaws will answer for their crimes, since the current DA has a systemic record of failing to prosecute assaults on victims.”
The legislation expires at the end of 2026. At that point the special prosecutor’s office will lose its authority, unless the legislature and the governor agree to renew the law.
In January 2024 Krasner sued to block the law, arguing it infringes on voters’ rights and disparately impacts non-white residents of Philadelphia, the state’s only majority-minority county. Critics also argued that its reference to crimes “within SEPTA” is too vague and could be construed as covering a large portion of the city.
Langerhold responded that the law does not significantly reduce the DA’s authority, saying it “adds an additional layer of safety analogous to a special task force on crime.” Shapiro also disagreed with Krasner’s objections, saying it was good to bring more law enforcement resources to Philadelphia, and SEPTA defended the law.
A divided Commonwealth Court ruled 4-3 against Krasner, saying the measure was not unconstitutional. The DA appealed to the Supreme Court, which heard arguments in May but has not yet issued a ruling.
Crime falls by one-third, and more
The Attorney General’s office has repeatedly declined requests by Billy Penn to interview Untermeyer. In one of the few media interviews he’s given, last December, he said he hadn’t yet prosecuted anyone, and he initially planned to focus on assaults and thefts, not more serious crimes like homicides.
The revelation that the special prosecutor has now taken on multiple cases, including at least one attempted murder, comes as SEPTA reports continued steep declines in serious crime since it peaked during the pandemic.
In 2024, Part 1 crimes like robberies, assault and homicides fell 34% from the previous year, down to 227 incidents systemwide, according to SEPTA. There were four homicides, compared to six in 2023, and 15 shooting incidents, down from 20 the previous year. Property crimes also fell by a third.
Overall serious crimes dropped from 1,236 in 2020 to 1,064 in 2023 and 711 in 2024.
SEPTA reported last week that most types of serious crimes continued to fall in the first half of 2025. There was a surge in robberies early in the year, and one homicide has been reported so far.
At the same time, SEPTA’s police force has grown to nearly 200 officers and has increased its focus on fare evasion — a major challenge for the cash-strapped transit authority — and nuisance offenses.
They’ve so far issued 4,366 citations for fare evasion this year, a 74% increase over the first six months of 2024, SEPTA said. Tickets for smoking are up 6% to 1,189, and up 19% for marijuana use, to 253.
Word of the new prosecutions also comes as riders wait to hear whether SEPTA will go through with planned deep cuts in service and major fare hikes due to a $213 million annual deficit. Legislators and Shapiro are in the midst of state budget discussions that will determine whether the state will increase its subsidy for the transit agency and prevent the cuts.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
