A good Samaritan onboard an A train attempted to stop a beatdown of a fellow rider by a group of men and was himself attacked by the perpetrators.
Police from the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park and Transit District 23 reported that on the night of Saturday, Aug. 17, the 55-year-old man was riding a northbound A train at the Howard Beach JFK subway station just after 10 p.m. when he tried to thwart the four suspects from assaulting the other straphanger.
The four men broke off their attack and went after the good Samaritan, punching him in the face repeatedly. One of the perpetrators sprayed him in the face with an unknown liquid. Police said the assailants then forcibly removed personal items from the victim worth approximately $2,480.
The stolen items included electronic devices and clothing, according to an NYPD spokeswoman, who added the type of liquid sprayed at the victim has not yet been determined.
The attackers exited the station onto Coleman Square and were last seen running down 159th Avenue. The victim sustained minor injuries during the assault and was transported to Mount Sinai West Hospital in Manhattan. The NYPD spokeswoman added that the victim’s removal to a Manhattan hospital instead of one in Queens was an “ambulatory decision.”
The four attackers remain at large more than a month later. On Monday, the NYPD released surveillance images of two of the suspects. One suspect was described one as having a dark complexion. He wore a white tank top, dark-colored shorts and blue sneakers. The second suspect is described as having a medium complexion and was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, gray jeans and white and black sneakers.
Anyone with information regarding 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 Sept. 22, the 106th Precinct has reported 153 robberies so far in 2024, one fewer than the 154 reported at the same point last year, a decline of 0.6%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Assaults are on the rise in the precinct, with 288 reported so far this year, 25 more than the 263 reported at the same point in 2023, an increase of 9.5%, according to CompStat. The 106th Precinct has reported 20 transit crimes so far in 2024, three more than the 17 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 17.6%, according to CompStat.
