Man Sought In Robberies, Stabbing In Claremont Village, The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police were searching Sunday for a suspect who has been linked to two robberies -- one of which involved a stabbing -- in and around one building in the Bronx.
The first incident happened on Sunday, March 26 around 2:30 p.m. inside the building at 1428 Webster Ave. in Claremont Village, police said.
The suspect followed a 58-year-old woman into an elevator, and when she got off on the 15th floor, the man took out a large knife and demanded the woman's purse, police said.
The victim handed over her purse and the man ran off, police said. The woman was not injured.
"I live right here. I could have come home that day, and he could have gotten me too," building resident Glenda Prelsey told CBS2's Ali Bauman.
"I'm on my way to church, and I'm coming home late. You get on the elevator late in the afternoon, you don't know what could happen," Claremont resident Laura Coley said.
The second incident happened this past Wednesday at 10:55 a.m. in front of the very same building, police said. The suspect got into a livery cab, and when the vehicle was stopped at a red light at Crotona Park South and Prospect Avenue, the suspect took out a knife stabbed the cab driver, 31-year-old Alex Acosta, in the face and neck, police said.
The suspect then took cash from the center console, got out of the livery cab, and ran west on Claremont Parkway, police said.
The victim suffered cuts to the right side of his face and was treated and released from St. Barnabas Hospital, police said.
"When I last saw him a few days ago, he wasn't able to speak," said Fernando Mateo, of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers. "His ear was almost severed, his throat. He's very luck the main vein on his neck didn't get totally obliterated, otherwise he would have died."
Police released surveillance video of the suspect in the lobby of the Webster Avenue building before the second incident.
Both attacks happened at the Butler Houses, public housing that residents lament feels far from safe, Bauman reported.
"It's the nature of living around here in low income neighborhoods. So it's a tragedy, but at the same time, I guess it's expected in a sense, which is unfortunate," resident Neill Jaico said.
"I pray and hope they find him before someone else gets hurt," Coley added.
Anyone with information was asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS or (888) 57-PISTA for Spanish, log onto the Crime Stoppers website, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIP577.