Her attacker struck without words and without warning.
Beautiful Hunter College student Maya Leggat, 21, was simply reading her Kindle while standing on a Metro-North platform in White Plains when a deranged homeless man sneaked up behind her and shoved her into the path of an oncoming train, sources told The Post.
“She never saw it coming,” a high-level law-enforcement source said on Thursday, as the young woman recovered from the first of several surgeries on her mangled leg.
“She was on the platform, reading her Kindle, and he comes up from behind a pole,” the source said of Wednesday’s attack. “He’d been leaning on a pole behind her, and then he grabs her with two hands and throws her.
“He never said a word to her,” said the source, describing the horror that played out that morning on a crowded platform.
Multiple witnesses and crystal-clear platform surveillance video identified the culprit as Howard Mickens, a 39-year-old vagrant from a nearby homeless shelter, sources said.
Mickens was described by authorities as a near-daily panhandler at the White Plains station who has a three-decades-long local history of violence, weapons and drugs, including three state-prison stints for assault, armed robbery and drug sales.
He was ordered held without bail Thursday after being arraigned on a single count of attempted second-degree murder.
As he stood before the judge, Mickens babbled that “the system is corrupt” and that he was “guilty, but with an explanation,” the Journal News reported.
When a judge ordered that he be examined by court-appointed psychiatrists, Mickens responded, “Can you make sure they’re not military? I just don’t want to get railroaded.’’
People have been trying to kill him since he was a child, he told the judge, adding, “When I close my eyes, I see colors and darkness.”
Leggat’s dad, Rob, told The Post on Thursday: “My biggest concern is that he has been allowed to walk on that platform for six months without anybody doing anything about it.”
A worker at the Open Arms Men’s Shelter in White Plains confirmed that Mickens had been staying there earlier this year. The worker said the suspect was not violent when on medication.
Meanwhile, Leggat remained at Westchester Medical Center, struggling bravely against injuries that were so grievous, one of the EMTs who tended to her Wednesday was moved enough to visit her at the hospital to check up on her.
“She’s looking better today,” said the emergency worker, who asked that her name not be used, after visiting Leggat.
The EMT, asked why she took the unusual step of visiting Leggat, said only, “Sometimes, some of them leave a mark.”
Amazingly, Leggat’s main concern is finishing her classes — and she has asked that her homework be forwarded, said Hunter College President Jennifer Raab. “She is truly an inspiring young woman,” the prexy said.
Additional reporting by Laura Italiano