Police from the 102nd Precinct in Richmond Hill and Transit District 20 are still looking for a groper who targeted a woman inside the Jamaica-Van Wyck subway station last month.
The 24-year-old victim was on the escalator just after 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 17, when a stranger approached her from behind and grabbed her buttocks, police said Tuesday. The suspect ran out of the subway station, onto Jamaica Avenue and fled on foot in an unknown direction. The victim was not injured during the encounter.
The NYPD released a surveillance image of the suspect coming through the turnstile and described him as having a dark complexion, approximately 30 to 40 years of age, 5 feet, 7 inches in height, with a medium build and black hair. He was last seen wearing a black sweater, gray shorts and white sneakers.
Anyone with information regarding this forcible touching 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. 7, the 102nd Precinct has reported 49 sex crimes so far in 2025, 17 more than the 32 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 53.1%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Transit crimes are also on the rise in the precinct, with a dozen reported so far this year, six more than the half dozen reported at the same point in 2024, an increase of 100%, according to CompStat.
