Cops are looking for this E train rider, who allegedly punched out a 55-year-old woman who was asking for a hand-out in a Long Island City subway station. Photo courtesy of the NYPD
Apr. 30, 2024 By Bill Parry
A persistent panhandler was punched out by an angry commuter on board a northbound E train at the Queens Plaza subway station on Sunday, Apr. 21.
Police from the 108th Precinct in Long Island City and Transit District 20 reported that the assault occurred just after 8 p.m., when a 55-year-old woman approached an unidentified female, who struck the victim multiple times in the face with a closed fist, causing pain and bruising. The assailant ran off the subway station at Jackson Avenue and Queens Boulevard in an unknown direction.
According to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation, the victim had asked her attacker for money repeatedly and the assailant grew annoyed with the harassment and moved to another car.
When the beggar followed her into the next car, that is when the fists flew. The victim refused medical attention at the scene and the angry commuter remains at large.
The NYPD released a surveillance photo of the suspect as she came through the Queens Plaza turnstile and described her as having a medium complexion with a medium build, approximately 30 to 40 years of age, 165 pounds with black curly hair. She was last seen wearing a brown jacket, blue jumpsuit and black fuzzy sneakers and carrying a black purse.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident 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 kept confidential.
Through Apr. 28, the 108th Precinct has reported 73 assaults so far in 2024, 6 more than the 66 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 13.6%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Transit crimes are way down in the 108th Precinct with 14 reported so far this year, 13 fewer than the 27 reported at the same point in 2023, a decline of 48.1%, according to CompStat.
5 Comments
It’s called anarcho-tyranny folks, look it up.
The “assailant” moved to another car which the panhandler followed them to? Yeah, that’s the kind of aggressive behavior that’s gonna get you clocked. Seems like the “assailant” was operating somewhere on the self-defense spectrum. Good for her.
This woman deserves praise not punishment for standing up to that panhandler
If a stranger was following me from 1 subway car to another harassing me for a handout despite my trying to leave, I’d use greater measures to DEFEND myself, even if it was a physical tactic. The peaceful ignore, walk away, and CHANGE SUBWAY CARS wasn’t enough to put a halt to this stranger’s harassment. A self-defensive punch to the face did the job.
Someone give her a medal.