Innocent NYC straphanger punched, robbed by thugs who caught him watching as they attacked another man: NYPD
An innocent witness was pummeled and robbed by a pair of thugs who caught him watching as they attacked another man inside a Queens subway station this week, cops said.
Jeisson Bedoya, 35, a Queens resident who hails from Colombia and spent some time in Miami, spotted two strangers punching and stabbing another man on the mezzanine level at the 82nd Street-Jackson Heights subway station around 1 a.m. Monday, authorities said.
“He didn’t even have the time to call 911,” said the victim’s aunt, Yolanda Bedoya, 57.
“But when he saw those guys stabbing the other one and beating the other guy up, he turned around and left quick down the staircase.”
But his escape bid was unsuccessful – the violent pair realized Jeisson was watching and turned their attention to him, his aunt said.
“They got him in the staircase, pushing him down the staircase, but he was able to grab the [railing],” Yolanda Bedoya said on behalf of her injured nephew, who speaks only Spanish.
The brutes snatched Jeisson’s cell phone, but he managed to grab it back, his aunt said.
But that wasn’t the end of the attackers’ rampage.
The menaces followed him down the steps of the elevated station, where they punched him a few times before running out onto the street, video obtained by The Post shows.
A police car soon pulled up on the block, and Jeisson flagged down the officers – who chased the suspects, but they got away, his aunt said.
The blows left Jeisson with a black eye and back pain from the pair’s attempt to push him down the steps, but he refused medical attention.
Jeisson has been living in Whitestone for a few months, helping his aunt who is disabled, she said.
He was coming home from meeting up with a friend when he was attacked, his aunt added.
“He never expected that something like this will happen to him,” his aunt said.
“We used to tell him, ‘Jay, do not go out too late. Do not stay out too late. It’s getting very dangerous.’ It’s not like it was before.”
Cops released footage late Thursday of the still-at-large pair walking on the sidewalk.
Anyone with information on the attackers is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on X @NYPDTips.
