New York City police are searching for a suspect who they say attacked a 57-year-old woman with a hammer Thursday night and robbed her as she entered a Queens subway station. The victim was left with a fractured skull and is in critical condition, WABC reports.
The New York City Police Department’s Crime Stoppers released footage of the attack, which took place at the Queens Plaza “E, M, R” subway station at 11:22 p.m.
Watch Below:
Police said the suspect approached the woman from behind and booted her down the steps before brandishing a hammer and repeatedly bludgeoning her in the head, according to WNBC. He then snatched her purse and fled the scene, footage allegedly shows.
Video footage seems to show the assailant wielding a cane, and a surveillance photo released by NYPD Crime Stoppers shows the suspect walking with one.
The woman was left with head trauma and officers discovered her lying on the ground, according to WNBC. EMS transported her to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She is in critical condition with a fractured skull and lacerations to her head, WABC reports.
Anyone with information regarding the attack is urged to contact NYPD’s Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
In another incident Thursday night, police say a suspect stabbed a 35-year-old man at about 7:00 p.m. as the victim left the 2, 3, and 4 station on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights, the New York Post reports. The suspect fled the scene after the unprovoked attack, and the victim was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, police said.
At around the same time, a 33-year-old female train conductor was punched in the face in the Upper West Side, police said, per the Post. The victim had stuck her head out of the train as it pulled into the 86th Street station when she was hit, police said. The male suspect left the scene.
Thursday night’s attacks come as subway crime in the Big Apple has spiraled out of control. Just last weekend, five people were stabbed in the course of forty-eight hours in the New York City subway system, Breitbart News reported. Moreover, transit crimes from January 1, when Democrat Mayor Eric Adams was sworn in, through February 20, have jumped 60.8 percent compared to the same period in 2021, the NYPD’s crime statistics show.
On February 18, Adams unveiled his Subway Safety Plan, which went into effect on February 23. The plan aims to curb homelessness and high crime rates in the subway system.
A press release from Adams’s office stated the New York City Police Department (NYPD) will be directed to enforce “certain subway rules, such as sleeping across multiple seats, exhibiting aggressive behavior to passengers, or creating an unsanitary environment.”
“No more smoking. No more doing drugs. No more sleeping. No more doing barbecues on the subway system. No more just doing whatever you want,” Adams said as he detailed the plan on February 18, per the Post.
“No. Those days are over. Swipe your MetroCard. Ride the system. Get off at your destination. That’s what this administration is saying,” he added.
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