The NYPD has said they have arrested a 29-year-old man in connection to two assaults which took place on Friday night, Nov. 10, in University Heights. Police had been asking for the public’s help identifying the person seen in the attached photos who they said was sought in connection to the two unprovoked assaults on two different people.

 

Police said that on Friday, Nov. 10, at around 8.10 p.m., in front of 2265 University Avenue, the person approached a 49-year-old man from behind and forcibly knocked him to the ground in an unprovoked assault. “The individual mounted the victim and struck him with an unknown object and attempted to press his thumbs into the victim’s eyes before fleeing the location,” a police spokesperson said.

 

The spokesperson went on to say, “Moments later, in front of 2324 University Avenue, the same person approached a 52-year-old female and slashed her in the forehead with an unknown object in an unprovoked assault.” According to police, the assailant then fled the location on foot heading northbound on University Avenue towards Fordham Road. “Both victims sustained non-life-threatening injuries to their faces and were transported by EMS to St. Barnabas Hospital in stable condition,” the spokesperson added.

 

Police said the person sought is described as male, has a light complexion, a thin build, black hair and a black mustache. They said he was last seen wearing a black, long-sleeve shirt, black pants, and black and gray socks.

 

The attached photos were obtained near the incident locations, police said.

 

On Saturday, Nov. 11, police said that pursuant to an ongoing investigation, Xavier Rodriguez, of no fixed address, was arrested and charged that day in The Bronx and was charged with assault.

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

Earlier this week, the NY Daily News reported that “a pistol-packing vigilante opened fire on a homeless man who tried to muscle a dollar out of a woman in a Midtown subway station,” on Wednesday according to police. Nobody was hit during the shooting and the gunman ran off according to police, but was later apprehended and charged with criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, and reckless endangerment.

 

Meanwhile, police said the homeless man in question was charged with attempted robbery. The incident had echoes of the vigilantism seen in the case of the subway rider and Michael Jackson impersonator, Jordan Neely, whose death following a chokehold by Marine Daniel Penny aboard a NYC subway in Manhattan earlier this year was later ruled a homicide. Lawyers for Penny reportedly asked a judge on Oct. 10 to dismiss the case, as reported by CNN, after NYC subway passengers described in a court filing feeling fearful [of Neely’s actions]. The prosecution has yet to respond to the request.

As reported, a group of six people are also sought in connection to an armed gang assault on a 60-year-old man which took place in nearby Devoe Park in Fordham Manor on the same night.

 

Anyone with information regarding these incidents is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

 

All calls are strictly confidential.