Straphanger Robbed Blind: Thieves Flee With Glasses In Qns, NYPD Says

QUEENS – A straphanger in Queens was literally robbed blind by a group of men who shot him with a gel pistol, beat him up and stole his glasses, according to police.

The 34-year-old was attacked by a group of men on a southbound 7 train near the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue station about 4:30 p.m., the NYPD reported.

One man fired a gel shot imitation pistol at the 34-year-old as others tried, and failed, to steal his gold chain, police said.

The 34-year-old ran to another car, jumped off the train at the station on Roosevelt Avenue and Broadway, but his attackers soon caught up with him again, police said.

The men stole his prescription glasses, struck him in the face, and fled via a Queens-bound F train, the NYPD said.

Police released images that show the group of men, described as in their late teens to early 20s, on the subway platform.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).