Cigarettes can be hazardous to your health — and so are armed robbers, as one Midtown mugging victim learned last week.
Police are looking for the suspect who robbed and stabbed a man at the Herald Square subway station last week after trying to bum a cigarette off the victim.
On Sunday, the NYPD released partial video footage of a struggle between the crook and victim on the F train platform at 10 p.m. on Nov. 22.
According to law enforcement sources, the perpetrator first approached the 34-year-old man while they rode a Brooklyn-bound F train approaching the 34th Street-Herald Square stop. Cops said the suspect asked the victim for a cigarette.
When the victim when to retrieve a cigarette, authorities reported, the suspect then moved to remove cash from the victim. That led to a physical struggle, during which the robber pulled out an unknown sharp object and stabbed the victim twice in the torso.
After the train arrived at the Herald Square street stop, police reported, the struggle between the crook and victim continued onto the platform, during which the suspect knifed the victim a third time in the left shoulder.
He then forcibly removed the man’s backpack and $200 in cash, then fled the station in an unknown direction, authorities said.
The incident was reported to the Midtown South Precinct and NYPD Transit District 2. EMS rushed the victim to Bellevue Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition with injuries not considered life-threatening.
Police described the suspect as a man with a dark complexion, a medium build and facial hair, standing about 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing about 240 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black-and-white Chicago White Sox baseball cap, a black jacket with a black hood, black pants and black boots.
Anyone with information regarding the robbery or the suspect’s whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
