Around 9 a.m. Wednesday in Brownsville at the Fulton Street and Rockaway Avenue subway station, authorities said the suspect sneaked up behind the victim who was purchasing a MetroCard from a vending machine, then hit him in the head with a hammer and then demanded cash.
The 32-year-old man handed over his money and the suspect fled the station. The victim was transported to Brookdale Hospital, where he was treated for his head injury and released.
In another incident that may be part of a pattern, a 26-year-old woman was approached from behind and struck by a hammer on March 5 at the intersection of 141-49 Pershing Crescent in Queens.
On Thursday, she said she never saw it coming. Wanting to remain anonymous, she said she was 16 weeks pregnant. She was walking to work, when she was hit from behind my a man wielding a hammer.
"I fell to my knees," she said.
The attacker got her metro card, which police tracked. They were able to get pictures of a man they now suspect in all three attacks. When she saw the pictures, it all came flooding back. "As soon as I saw him, I started hysterically crying, reliving the whole experience," she said.
On May 4, a 23-year-old man was hit by another man with a hammer on Rockaway Avenue. The suspect fled on foot with the victim's wallet.
The suspect in Wednesday's attack is described as a black male, about 5 feet 10 inches, and 130 to 150 pounds.
Anyone with information in regards to this robbery is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.
