City police officials this week released a surveillance photo of a man who bludgeoned a straphanger with a metal pipe at a Jackson Heights subway station on April 8. Police said the attacker bashed the 66-year-old in the head with a metal pipe, fracturing the man’s skull during a robbery inside the 74th Street/Roosevelt Avenue station.
The victim was on his way to a family celebration and had just exited a vertical turnstile in the station mezzanine, when the suspect crept up behind him and bashed him twice in the head with the pipe, police said.
The suspect swiped the victim’s cellphone, but left behind a bag containing a laptop computer when he fled the scene, police said.
The victim was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he underwent surgery for a fractured skull.
Surveillance video shows the suspect lurking outside the platform exit for about 15 minutes before the attack, police sources said.
The suspect is described as a dark-skinned Hispanic or Middle Eastern male, 20 to 25 years old, with a slim build. He was wearing a yellow headband, blue ski jacket, gray sweatshirt, jeans and white sneakers at the time of the attack, police said.
Anyone with information is urged to call the NYPD Crimestoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com. The Hotline is offering a $2,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.
–Liz Goff