Police on Saturday released an image of the man who stabbed a NYCHA worker in the back as he tried to fill his MetroCard at a Harlem train station.
Victim Taofeek Agisegiri, 54, had seen the stranger urinating at the A/B/C/D station at W. 125th St. and St. Nicholas Ave., just minutes before the 4:30 a.m. attack Friday.
Cops said the assailant pursued Agisegiri after an attempt to “engage him in a verbal dispute” was unsuccessful and then stabbed him.
“He said, why am I looking at him. ‘I’m talking to you, you don’t talk to me?’” Agisegiri recalled. “I walked past him. He just stabbed me from the back.”
The attacker, who wore a black sweatshirt, ran out of the station. No arrests had been reported as of Friday evening.
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EMS rushed Agisegiri to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital with a minor wound. The public housing worker said he received 12 stitches in his upper back, and was scratched where the assailant tried to stab him a second time.
Cops described the attacker as black, about 5-foot-8, between 28 and 35-years-old with a thin build and a beard. At the time of the attack he was wearing a black hoodie, a black jacket and was carrying a book.
Agisegiri, who emigrated to the U.S. from Nigeria six years ago, claimed three bystanders did nothing when the attack took place.
“In this country people mind their own business,” he said.
The early-morning attack was the latest in a series of violent encounters in city subways. Police have been combatting a 41% jump in crime in the city’s transit system this year compared to last year.
As of Sunday, nine people have been murdered on the rails, three more than this time last year. In addition, 445 people have been attacked at city train stops — an 18% jump over the 376 assault complaints the NYPD fielded this time last year.
Cops released the image of the assailant in the hopes that someone recognizes him. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
Thomas Tracy
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