Vicious Vaper Beats Queens Straphanger Who Asked Him Not To Vape: NYPD

QUEENS, NY — A straphanger got repeatedly punched in the face by a man he asked to stop vaping next to him on a Queens train, police said.

The vicious vaper also stole $200 from the straphanger during the Tuesday afternoon beatdown, which began on an R train and rolled into 36th Street station in Long Island City, authorities said.

The straphanger — a 36-year-old man — had to go to Elmhurst Hospital to get stitches for a cut on his head, NYPD officials said.

The run-in unfolded about 4:00 p.m. when the straphanger asked a man next to him to not hit his vape as an R train approached the 36th Street station, police said.

The anti-vaping request sparked an argument, which escalated to the toker punching the straphanger in the face, authorities said.

They both exited the train onto the platform, where the vaper struck the straphanger several times in the head before forcibly stealing $200 cash from his pocket, police said.

NYPD officials released a photograph of the vaper early Friday, and ask for the public's help identifying him.

People with information are asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). They can also submit by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on Twitter @NYPDTips.