QUEENS, NY — A Bronx man has been indicted on charges of attempted murder following a July stabbing at the Jamaica-Van Wyck subway station that left a 23-year-old woman seriously injured, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Randol Contreras, 24, was arraigned on Wednesday after a grand jury returned a nine-count indictment against him. He is accused of stabbing the woman multiple times as she exited the subway station, an attack that was interrupted by a good Samaritan who, along with another man, detained Contreras until police arrived.
“We have secured a grand jury indictment against Randol Contreras for attempted murder,” District Attorney Katz said in a statement. “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 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, who resides on 241st Street in the Bronx, faces charges that include attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. He was ordered to return to court on September 30.
The incident occurred on July 28 at approximately 8:23 p.m., when the 23-year-old victim exited the escalator onto the mezzanine and walked toward the exit of the Jamaica-Van Wyck subway station. According to the charges, Contreras approached the victim holding a knife and demanded money. When the woman said she did not have any, she offered her purse to Contreras, who then backed her into a corner and stabbed her multiple times in the torso and slashed her face.
An eyewitness coming up the escalator saw the attack and shouted at Contreras, who then fled toward the turnstiles. The witness and another man followed Contreras out of the station and held him until the police arrived. Another passerby assisted the victim, who was bleeding heavily, and took her to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. A knife and the vest Contreras was wearing were later found in a nearby trash can.
If convicted, Contreras faces up to 25 years in prison.
