Mail Room Clerk Charged as ‘Dartman’ Case Suspect

A mail room clerk with a history of psychiatric and drug problems was charged Thursday in connection with the “Dartman” attacks on women pedestrians in Manhattan.

Jerome Wright, 33, of the Bronx, was arrested after he was identified in a lineup by three of the 55 women who reported feeling the sting of makeshift darts that were aimed at their backsides during the past three weeks.

With Wright’s arrest, police predicted the attacks would end.

“We believe he is our darter,” Joseph DeMartino, chief of the Manhattan detective division, told reporters.

He said that Wright had admitted the three attacks and also “indicated to us he has been under observation for psychiatric problems.”

DeMartino was less positive about the motive. “Mr. Wright has made numerous statements to us, none of which has given us real insight into why he is doing this,” he said.

Wright was charged in each case with three counts of reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon and harassment. Police said it was unlikely he would be charged with any of the other attacks, since most of the women did not see the assailant.

The bizarre incidents began June 26, when women started complaining of being stung on the buttocks, legs and arms. In addition to the Manhattan attacks, one woman was stung in Queens.

The Dartman took aim at women in dresses or skirts with homemade darts fashioned from pins and sewing needles attached to paper wings. Most of the incidents occurred during lunch hour in Penn Station or at Times Square.

Wright, who was on probation until 1992 for a drug conviction, works in the area as a messenger and mail room clerk, which puts him on the streets during the day, DeMartino said.