Bronx man who was detained by good Samaritan witnesses indicted for stabbing subway commuter in Queens

NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — A Bronx man was indicted on Wednesday on multiple charges, including attempted murder, for stabbing a 23-year-old woman who was exiting the subway last month, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.

Randol Contreas, 24, is charged with attempted murder, four counts of assault, three counts of attempted robbery and criminal possession of a weapon for the July 28 attack.

At 8:23 p.m. on the day of the stabbing, a 23-year-old woman was exiting the escalator onto the mezzanine of the Jamaica-Van Wyck subway station when Contreras allegedly approached with a knife and demanded money, prosecutors said.

The victim said she didn’t have any money and went to hand Contreras her purse, but he backed her into a corner next to the escalator, stabbed her three times in the right side of her torso, once in the abdomen and slashed her face, according to the charges.

Prosecutors said that an eyewitness going up the escalator saw the stabbing, told his son to run away, and then yelled at Contreras to stop.

Contreras turned his attention to the witness and ran toward the turnstile, but was pursued by the witness and another man who caught up to him and jumped on him until police arrived.

Another witness saw the 23-year-old bleeding profusely and called 911 before walking her out of the subway. He brought her to the nearby Jamaica Hospital Medical Center emergency room.

“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,” Katz said. “Thank you to the brave witnesses who tried to stop the attack, helped the victim and then detained the defendant until police arrived.”

A knife and the vest that Contreras were wearing were discovered in the trash, prosecutors said.

Contreras was ordered to return to court on Sept. 30 and if convicted faces up to 25 years in prison.