LOWER EAST SIDE — Police are looking for a man they say smashed a straphanger’s phone then attacked the victim with a box cutter over the weekend.
The 45-year-old victim, who uses a cane, told police he entered the Delancey Street and Essex Street subway station at around 6:30 p.m. and noticed the suspect blocking the turnstiles.
When the victim told the suspect he should move out of the way so people could get through, the suspect refused then snatched the victim's LG cell phone out of his hand, police said.
The victim held up his cane in an attempt to stop the suspect from fleeing, telling him not to run, according to a police report. The suspect then hurled the phone onto the ground, causing the screen to shatter, and fled on foot down the platform, police said.
The victim followed the suspect down the platform and watched him get on a southbound M train, then boarded an adjacent train car to keep an eye on him, according to authorities.
When the suspect exited the train at the Myrtle Avenue station in Bushwick, the victim followed him and confronted him, telling him to stay in the station while he called the police to report the suspect smashing his phone, according to a police report.
The suspect then pulled out a boxcutter and cut the victim’s left cheek before fleeing in an unknown direction, police said.
The victim was taken to Beth Israel Hospital and is in stable condition, according to a police report.
Police have released a photo of the suspect, who is described as a man around 29 years of age.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
