Jan. 21, 2025 By Bill Parry
Police from the 108th Precinct in Long Island City and Transit District 20 are still looking for four men who allegedly roughed up a 7 train rider before robbing him in Hunters Point on the night of Friday, Jan. 10.
The 37-year-old victim was onboard a Manhattan-bound 7 train approaching the Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue subway station at 11:35 p.m. when the four strangers entered the car and sat down next to him. The suspects began to violently shove him before snatching his cell phone and $25 in cash, police said late Monday night.
The perpetrators ran off the train and fled the station on foot in an unknown direction, leaving the victim shaken by the encounter but not injured.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the four suspects and described them as having light complexions in their 20s. One wore a distinctive black jacket with white designs and a matching baseball cap, and black pants. The second suspect had a heavier build than the other three and wore a black vest over a black jacket, black cargo pants, and dark sneakers. The third man wore a two-tone winter jacket, gray sweatpants, and a dark-knit winter cap. The fourth wore a black winter jacket over a black hooded sweatshirt and white sneakers.
A reward of up to $3,500 is being offered for information that leads to their arrest.
Anyone with information regarding this robbery investigation 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 confidential.
Through Jan. 12, the 108th Precinct has reported five robberies so far in 2025, four fewer than the nine reported at the same point last year, a decline of 44.4%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Transit crimes are also down in the precinct with one reported so far this year, one fewer than the two reported at the same point in 2024, a decline of 50%, according to CompStat.