MELROSE — A straphanger was slashed across the face as he fought off two men who stole his backpack full of Tupperware aboard a Manhattan-bound 2 train in Melrose early in the morning on April 5, police said.
The 26-year-old man, whose name wasn't immediately released, was riding on the train near the Jackson Avenue station along with two men he didn't know around 1:15 a.m., an NYPD spokesman said.
The two suspects hit the 26-year-old in the head, prompting him to fight back, police said.
They slashed the straphanger across the back of his head, on his forehead and on his left hand, police said.
He got off at the Jackson Avenue stop and was treated and released at Lincoln Hospital, while the suspects stayed on the train with his bag, according to police.
Officers described both suspects as men in their early 20s, one standing 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 210 pounds and the other standing 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds.
Video shows the suspects running along the sidewalk and up a staircase.
Anyone with information about this robbery 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 www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577.
