Cops are looking for this suspect who allegedly pepper-sprayed a mother and her toddler in the eyes at the Court Square station after she refused to let him use her cell phone. NYPD
June 26, 2025 By Bill Parry
The NYPD has released surveillance images of the culprit they say is behind a pepper spray attack on a mother and her 11-month-old daughter in broad daylight at a Long Island City subway station on the morning of Friday, June 20.
The 25-year-old woman was on board a southbound M train approaching the Court Square-23rd Street station with her toddler when she was approached by a stranger at around 10:50 a.m. Police from the 108th Precinct in Long Island City and Transit District 20 reported that the man had asked the mom to use her cellphone at the Queens Plaza station before getting on the subway, where he asked her for a second time.
An argument between the two erupted after she refused him for a second time, and the perpetrator allegedly pulled out a pepper spray device and used it to blast the victim and her baby in their eyes, causing irritation, police said. The suspect ran off the train at the Court Square station and fled the scene in an unknown direction. EMS responded to the scene and rushed the mother and her baby to Mount Sinai Hospital, Queens Hospital in Astoria, where they were treated for substantial pain and redness to their eyes and face.
The NYPD put out a few security camera photos that show the suspect passing through the station turnstiles and described him as having a light complexion with a dark beard and mustache. He wore a black hooded sweatshirt with white drawstrings, a black Chicago Bulls baseball cap, and multicolored sweatpants.
Anyone with information regarding this assault investigation is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are confidential.
Through June 22, the 108th Precinct has reported 133 felony assaults so far in 2025, a dozen more than the 121 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 9.9%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Transit crimes are also on the rise in the precinct, with 35 reported so far this year, eight more than the 27 reported at the same point in 2024, an increase of 29.4%, according to CompStat.
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