As the NYPD works to combat subway crime citywide, detectives in Queens are searching for the brute who broke a woman’s back by shoving her down a stairwell at the 82nd Street-Jackson Heights station on the 7 line.
According to law enforcement sources, the perpetrator attacked a 22-year-old woman without provocation as she waited for a 7 train on the Flushing-bound platform at about 5:20 a.m. on Oct. 23.
Cops said the suspect punched the woman in the face, then pushed her down a flight of stairs leading from the platform to the station’s mezzanine.
Adding insult to injury, authorities noted the unhinged assailant then picked up the woman’s bag left on the platform and tossed that down the stairs as well.
Following the attack, the perpetrator fled the scene in an unknown direction, police reported.
The incident was reported to the 115th Precinct and NYPD Transit District 20.
The victim sought treatment via private means at Elmhurst Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a compression fracture to her back, as well as minor injuries to her left knee and right hand.
On Wednesday night, the NYPD released video footage of her attacker.
Police described him as a man with a medium complexion believed to be 45 years of age, standing about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing about 200 pounds, with dark-colored eyes and black hair.
As shown, he wore a blue pullover sweatshirt over a pink shirt, as well as black pants and shoes.
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 CrimeStoppers website at crimestoppers.
All calls are strictly confidential.
The facts about subway crime
- The NYPD reported 198 total major felonies throughout the NYC subway system in September 2022, up 3.7% from the 191 incidents that occurred in September 2021.
- Year-to-date through September, however, major felonies are up 42% in the subways, with a total of 1,708 incidents reported.
- Felony assaults (up 17.1%), robberies (up 32.1%) and grand larcenies (up 66.7%) made up the largest increases.
- The NYPD, however, has seen its arrests in the subway system rise 27% in September and 49.3% year-to-date. Nearly 6,400 arrests have been made underground this year.
- The 1,708 major felonies between January-September 2022 nonetheless represent a 41.6% decrease from the 2,926 major felonies reported in the subways 25 years ago, in 1997.
