Police are searching for a woman who attacked a cab driver in East Elmhurst during a robbery more than two weeks ago.
The incident occurred in the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 11 after the cabbie picked up the suspect in Manhattan. The driver told investigators that the woman initially wanted to be taken to LaGuardia Airport but instead decided to be dropped off nearby in front of 89-00 23rd Ave. at around 2 a.m.
When the driver asked her to pay, the woman pulled out a knife and slashed him across the neck and face causing a laceration, before running off eastbound on 23rd Avenue in the opposite direction of LaGuardia Airport.
Detectives from the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights are trying to determine why the cab driver was dropping her off at the location which is two blocks south of the airport.
EMS arrived at the crime scene and rushed the victim to Elmhurst Hospital where he was listed in stable condition. The incident is being investigated as a robbery due to the failure of the suspect to pay the fare, police said.
The NYPD released a surveillance image of the suspect on Sunday and described her as having long black hair. She was last seen wearing pink pants, white platform sneakers, a white t-shirt and she was carrying a yellow handbag.
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 Feb. 18, the 115th Precinct has reported 45 robberies so far in 2024, a dozen more than the 33 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 36.4%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
