Police: 19-Year-Old Slashed By Group Of Four Men In Upper West Side
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 19-year-old man was slashed shortly after midnight Saturday in the Upper West Side.
CBS2's Magdalena Doris reports a group of four men approached the 19-year-old at the bus stop on 96th and Broadway and tried to rob him of his cellphone. Police said the victim got a "bad vibe" from them and tried to flee to the pedestrian plaza area at the subway station.
He was then slashed across his head, hands and back. The victim was taken to St. Luke's Hospital and has since been released.
A straphanger told 1010 WINS' Roger Stern that the slashings in the city are getting "ridiculous."
"We worry because, you know, anybody can come up and slash you and it's so ridiculous what they're doing with this slashing," Juan told 1010 WINS. "You have to be on alert."
"We need more protection in our community, did you hear Mr. DeBlasio?" Upper West Side resident Milagros Stanley told CBS2's Steve Langford.
The latest slashing comes after Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton announced that police were taking new strides in stopping slashings across the city.
"Our analysis so far has shown that there's an inordinate number of stabbings and slashings and about one-fifth of incidents occur late, on Friday night into Saturday morning, and Saturday night into Sunday mornings," NYPD Chief of Department James O'Neill said.
More patrols will be heading out across neighborhoods where slashings are on the rise, including night clubs and bars.
Police are still searching for the four suspects.
