Jan. 18, 2024 By Bill Parry
An R train rider was stabbed during an unprovoked assault near the Queens Plaza subway station in Long Island City last week.
Police from the 108th Precinct in Long Island City and Transit District 20 are looking for an unidentified man who approached the 36-year-old victim as he was riding a southbound R train entering the Queens Plaza station at around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 10.
The suspect attempted to engage the victim in a conversation, then proceeded to stab the 36-year-old in the left leg with a sharp object, police said.
The assailant fled the station onto Queens Plaza South near Northern Boulevard. The victim was treated at Staten Island University Hospital North where he was listed in stable condition. An NYPD spokesman could not explain why the man went to a hospital on Staten Island, although noted that he was transported by private means.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect on Wednesday and described him as having a dark complexion, approximately 20 years old. He was wearing a dark-colored vest jacket over a red hooded sweatshirt, dark-colored pants, and white and black sneakers.
A reward of up to $3,500 is being offered for information that leads to his arrest. 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, on Twitter @NYPDTips.
Through Jan. 14, the NYPD108th Precinct has reported nine assaults so far in 2024, one more than the eight reported at the same point last year, an increase of 11.1%, according to the most recent CompStat report.