Subway crime: Man wanted for slashing 3 women on legs in Manhattan
By WABC Web Staff
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UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) — The NYPD says it’s looking for a man who slashed two women in an Upper East Side subway station and another woman just minutes later aboard a train in Lower Manhattan.
Officers were running through the 4/5/6 station at 86th Street and Lexington Ave searching for the person who slashed two women and ran. Just before 4:30 p.m. Sunday, police say the slasher attacked a 19-year-old woman walking up the stairs and a 48-year-old woman on the platform – cutting them both on their legs.
As the women were taken to the hospital, police downtown got called to another slashing at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station. It happened on a downtown 4 train only 17 minutes later. A 28-year-old woman was slashed in the leg, leading police to eventually connect the crimes.
In each case, the attacker stalked his victims from behind. One of the wounds was said to be severe.
For Nicholas Altobelli, who was working only a block away from the scene on the Upper East Side, it brought back what he witnessed back in February 2020 on a 6 train, when he heard screams and helped a woman who was randomly slashed. He took off his shirt to use as a tourniquet when a young victim suffered a gash to his head.
He says seeing the commotion on Sunday was a frightening reminder.
“It’s just clear that if this happened two years ago and we’re still dealing with this now, I mean, that’s a really, really vicious thing to happen, and something we’ve really got to clean up,” said Altobelli.
“The 4/5/6 stations, I think they need to be a little careful about putting people around, putting cops around,” said Sazan Thapa who works nearby.
It has been a busy weekend for the NYPD investigating violent crime – and not just on the Lexington Avenue line.
A stabbing on the J train early Sunday morning sent a man to the hospital.
Detectives are still looking for witnesses and video to explain what happened to a man who died after being found with stab wounds on a 4 train very early Saturday morning in Union Square.
At East 86th Street, regular riders are wary, knowing that the person who attacked the victims is still out there.
“It’s still scary for everybody taking the train at this station. I think they need to do a better job around this area,” Thapa said.
Police released surveillance video of the man they are looking for on Monday.
He’s described as having short black hair, brown eyes, 5’8″ in height, and approximately 220 lbs. He was last seen wearing a white shirt, blue pants, black sneakers, and a black baseball cap with the letter “B” in red on the front.
Sarah Feinberg, the former interim president of NYC Transit, tweeted, “3 women were stabbed by 1 individual in the subway system yesterday. The news reports say “random” and “unprovoked” … but it’s not random when perpetrators specifically target women. Call it what it is, which is a hate crime targeted at women.”
She went on to say, “And these crimes were committed yesterday afternoon. It’s now midday Monday. Are elected leaders in NY unaware this happened nearly 24 hours ago? Or they’re aware and decided 3 women being stabbed in the transit system doesn’t rise to the level of even a comment of concern?”
NYC Transit President Richard Davey released a statement saying, “NYC Transit cameras grabbed good pictures of this perpetrator jumping the turnstile and I’m confident the NYPD will track him down in short order. When they do, prosecutors need to press for maximum consequences under the law.”
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).
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