Suspect in New York attack was arrested in Missouri in 2016, officials say

A man suspected of plowing through a busy New York City bike path in a truck and killing eight people was ticketed in Platte County in 2015, Missouri Highway Patrol officials said Tuesday.

Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, now a terror suspect, was arrested in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles last year after he failed to appear in court on the traffic ticket issued the year before.

According to reports, police believe the 29-year-old Saipov, an Uzbeki immigrant who entered the United States legally in 2010, mowed down pedestrians and cyclists along a busy bike path near the World Trade Center memorial on Tuesday, killing at least eight and seriously injuring 11.

The incident is being investigated as an act of terror.

Court records show that Saipov was issued a traffic ticket at a weigh station in Platte County on Dec. 16, 2015, for failing to have proper brakes on his commercial vehicle. He was arrested in St. Charles last October on an outstanding warrant after he failed to appear in court to answer the ticket.

The Associated Press reported Saipov has a Florida driver’s license but may have been staying in New Jersey.

According to court records, Saipov also was cited in Pennsylvania in August 2012 and March 2015. Records show he pleaded guilty to exceeding the maximum length for a trailer and to operating with unsafe equipment in April 2015.

In 2012, he was charged with failing to comply with license restrictions. That charge was withdrawn after Saipov pleaded guilty to operating a motor carrier vehicle in violation of driver out-of-service standards.

Court records indicate Saipov’s address was listed as Paterson, N.J. during those years.

This story was originally published October 31, 2017 at 10:17 PM with the headline "Suspect in New York attack was arrested in Missouri in 2016, officials say."