The alleged victim of a slashing incident in a Queens, New York, subway terminal said witnesses watched what happened but didn’t offer help, the New York Post reported Monday.
“I can remember I [could] see people when I screamed and I asked them for help, but nobody [came],” Hector Hernandez, 36, told the New York Post in a video interview.
Hernandez reportedly missed his stop after falling asleep on the F train around 1 a.m. on his way home from work in Staten Island, opting instead to get off at the Kew Gardens/Union Turnpike terminal in Queens. After getting off the train, another passenger allegedly followed him out of the terminal and up the stairs, yelling, “Yo! Give me your money! Your wallet. Your phone,” Hernandez said, according to the outlet.
NYC subway slashing victim says bystanders just watched: ‘Nobody helped me’ https://t.co/FPxmNRS1oP pic.twitter.com/egzCKeTF9M
— New York Post (@nypost) December 5, 2022
“He had a big knife, silver, 8 inches long,” Hernandez continued, the NY Post reported. After Hernandez tried to protect himself with his bag and apparently refused orders to get on the ground, the suspect slashed Hernandez in his face and right hand, according to the NY Post. (RELATED: Police Say 10-Year-Old Boy Had Hit List, Brought Knife To School)
Several bystanders witnessed what happened, Hernandez told the outlet. “They just look and move back,” he said, according to the NY Post.
Jamaica Hospital reportedly treated Hernandez and gave him staples where alleged suspect slashed his head, leaving Hernandez with a scar down the left side of his face, video footage from the NY Post shows.
Hernandez said he managed to keep the $25 he had in his pocket. He sends much of the money he makes at work to his family in Guatemala, according to the outlet.
Police are still looking for the alleged suspect.