HILLCREST — A St. John’s University college student was slashed and robbed right outside the campus' gates Tuesday evening after he tried to make a deal to sell some black-market cigarettes, officials said.
The victim, a student at St. John’s University who lives on campus, met a man just outside the campus gates at 172-27 82nd Ave. at around 6:40 p.m. on Nov. 17, according to the school’s public safety office.
The pair had met previously in person and continued to talk on social media, and the student offered to sell him cigarettes, although it’s not clear how many.
After meeting up, the victim got into the suspect’s dark gray Mazda to make the sale — but a man seated in the backseat instead pulled out a knife to rob him, officials said.
The suspect cut the student once on the cheek and twice on the neck and demanded he empty his backpack, taking the cigarettes, an iPhone, his student ID card and keys before forcing the victim out of the car.
The suspects drove west on 82nd Avenue, according to St. John’s University’s Public Safety, who put out an alert hours after the attack.
A call to the university’s spokeswoman was not immediately returned.
