Metro C Line rider stabbed in struggle for snatched cell phone

Help is needed to identify a man police say snatched the cell phone of a Metro C Line train rider, then stabbed the rider as they struggled for it.

The robbery happened on Feb. 12 at about 5 p.m. on the C Line train platform at Avalon Boulevard in the Willowbrook area.

According to the LAPD, the suspect grabbed the cell phone out of the rider's hand and ran off the train when it stopped at the Avalon Boulevard platform. The rider chased after the suspect, and during a struggle for the phone, the suspect stabbed him and ran off in an unknown direction.

He was taken to a local hospital to be treated for his wounds before officers arrived on the scene, LAPD officials said.

The suspect was described as a 5-foot-5, 120 to 150-pound Black male between 14 and 20 years old with black hair, wearing a light-colored blue shirt with an anime graphic design on the front, blue jeans, and two-tone colored shoes.

Anyone with information about the suspect or the robbery can contact LAPD Southeast Robbery Detective Lopez at (213) 972-7931.