A homeless man from Brooklyn was arrested and charged in the bloody beating of a commuter at the Queens Plaza subway station last month. NYPD
March 4, 2024 By Bill Parry
A Brooklyn homeless man was arrested by the NYPD for allegedly attacking a commuter with a metal pipe inside the Queens Plaza subway station in Long Island City last month.
Ricky Wilson, 65, who lives in a shelter at the converted Red Lion Inn and Suites on Butler Street in Boerum Hill, was taken into custody on Monday, Feb. 26 and booked at the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows on assault and weapons charges.
Wilson was arraigned the following day in Queens Criminal Court for the bloody attack inside the station at 27th Street and Queens Plaza South, and ordered held on $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 bond.
Wilson was seen on video surveillance footage just before 1 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17 inside the station on the E, M and R lines wearing a light-colored sweatshirt with the number “40” printed on the back and a hat with a snowflake pattern on it.
According to the criminal complaint, he approached the 31-year-old victim just inside the turnstile area and began to argue with him before pulling out a metal pipe and striking the victim in the face and head multiple times. Wilson allegedly fled the location on foot in an unknown direction.
The victim sustained several lacerations to his head, bleeding and substantial pain. EMS transported him to New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center where he received multiple staples to his head and was listed in stable condition.
An officer from the New York City Department of Homeless Services reviewed the video surveillance footage from the incident and recognized the sweatshirt and hat, and he confirmed that the defendant was Ricky Wilson, according to the criminal complaint.
