Police from the 104th Precinct in Ridgewood and Transit District 33 are looking for a suspect who allegedly robbed and punched out an L train rider at the Myrtle Avenue-Wyckoff Avenue subway station nearly two months ago.
The 48-year-old victim was waiting on the platform at 10:20 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 15, when he was approached by a stranger who snatched his cell phone from one of his pockets. When the victim confronted the robber, the assailant punched him multiple times in the face and fled the scene on a Manhattan-bound L train, police said.
The victim was not injured during the attack, and the suspect, who remains at large, has been identified as 24-year-old Jorge Ortiz, according to law enforcement.
The NYPD has released a surveillance photo of Ortiz as he passed through the station turnstiles and described him as having a light complexion and blonde hair. He was wearing a black hooded jacket over a black and white flannel shirt.
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 May 12, the 104th Precinct has reported 72 robberies so far in 2024, 2 more than the 70 reported at the same point last year, an uptick of 2.9%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Assaults are also up slightly in the precinct with 104 reported so far this year, 4 more than the 100 reported at the same point in 2023, an increase of 4%, according to CompStat.
