Posted on: August 21, 2024 04:44 AM

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Bronx man indicted for attempted murder of 23 year old subway commuter who was stabbed while exiting station

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Randol Contreras was indicted by a grand jury and arraigned today on charges of attempted murder, assault and other crimes for the stabbing of a 23-year-old woman who was attacked while leaving the Jamaica-Van Wyck subway station in July. A good Samaritan distracted Contreras, stopping the assault, while he and another man held the defendant.

District Attorney Katz said: “We have secured a grand jury indictment against Randol Contreras for attempted murder. A young woman was seriously injured in this attack as she exited the subway system. This defendant allegedly asked the victim for money and then stabbed the woman multiple times in the torso, leaving her with a punctured liver and slashed her face. Thank you to the brave witnesses who tried to stop the attack, helped the victim and then detained the defendant until police arrived.”

 Contreras, 24, of 241st Street in the Bronx, was arraigned today on a nine-count indictment charging him with attempted murder in the second degree, two counts of assault in the first degree, two counts of attempted robbery in the first degree, attempted robbery in the second degree, two counts of assault in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino ordered him to return to court on September 30, 2024.

If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

According to the charges:

• On July 28, at approximately 8:23 p.m., the 23-year-old victim exited the escalator onto the mezzanine and walked toward the exit of the Jamaica-Van Wyck subway station.
• Contreras approached the victim holding a knife and demanded money. The woman said she did not have any and went to hand her purse to Contreras.
• Contreras backed the woman into a corner next to the escalator and stabbed her approximately three times in the right side of her torso and then in the abdomen. He also slashed her face.
• An eyewitness who was coming up the escalator saw the stabbing, told his own son to run away and yelled at Contreras to stop. Contreras turned his attention to the witness and then ran toward the turnstile.
• The witness and another man followed Contreras out of the subway station and ordered him to stop. They jumped on him until police arrived.
• Another man saw the victim bleeding profusely and called 911. He then walked the woman out of the subway station and brought her to the nearby Jamaica Hospital Medical Center emergency room.
• A knife and the vest that Contreras was wearing were discovered in the trash