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Good Samaritan beaten, robbed at 82nd Street 7 train station in Jackson Heights while helping fellow rider: NYPD

Cops are looking for two suspects who punched out and robbed a good Samaritan who tried to help a fellow 7 train rider who was getting assaulted at the 82nd Street subway station. Photo by Queens Post

Sept. 3, 2024 By Bill Parry

A good Samaritan was assaulted and robbed when he tried to intervene in a beatdown of a fellow 7 train rider at the 82nd Street subway station on Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights last week.

Police from the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights and Transit District 20 reported that the 35-year-old victim was inside the station at around 1 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 26, when he saw two strangers punching out a man on the mezzanine level of the station.

The concerned citizen took out his cell phone to call 911. The two assailants approached him and snatched the device from his hand and then attempted to shove him down the staircase of the station and chased him to the street level, where they began punching him, police said.

The perpetrators ran off along Roosevelt Avenue. The victim suffered minor injuries and refused medical attention at the crime scene.

The NYPD released surveillance video that shows the two suspects walking past one of the construction sheds along Roosevelt Avenue under the elevated 7 line and described them as having medium complexions. One wore a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers while his accomplice wore a black t-shirt, blue jeans, black sneakers and a black baseball cap.

Anyone with information about 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. 1, the 115th Precinct has reported 297 robberies so far in 2024, 79 more than the 218 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 36.2%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Assaults are also on the rise in the precinct with 444 reported so far this year, 119 more than the 325 reported at the same point in 2023, an increase of 36.6%, according to CompStat.