Yankee Stadium subway stabbing suspect also attacked, robbed 85-year-old man: NYPD

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Yankee Stadium subway stabbing suspect also attacked, robbed 85-year-old man: NYPD​



By
Tina Moore and

Amanda Woods


August 12, 2022 6:48pm
Updated









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The fiend who allegedly stabbed a man in the Yankee Stadium subway station over the weekend was caught on shocking surveillance footage shoving, slashing and robbing an 85-year-old man a half-hour earlier, authorities said.
Diego Diaz, 19, targeted the senior on Exchange Place near Broad Street in the Financial District around 1 p.m. Sunday, cops said.
Footage released by the NYPD Friday shows the elderly victim crossing the street and walking slowly past Diaz, who was standing still and watching him.
Then he turned and followed the victim, pushing him back into the street against a parked car, the disturbing clip shows.
He allegedly slashed the victim on the arm before he picked the man’s pockets, according to cops and the video.
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Diaz took off with the elderly man’s watch and cell phone, authorities said.


The senior had just returned to the city from Martha’s Vineyard with his wife when he was attacked, according to cops.


Diaz then traveled to the Bronx, where he allegedly stabbed 33-year-old Leo Frasier in the back a half-hour later on an escalator at the 161st St-Yankee Stadium subway station.

Mugshot of Diego Diaz, who is wanted in connection to the August 7 assault and robbery of an elderly man in Lower Manhattan, and the stabbing of a younger man in the Bronx a half-hour later.Mugshot of Diego Diaz, who is wanted in connection to the August 7 assault and robbery of an elderly man in Lower Manhattan, and the stabbing of a younger man in the Bronx a half-hour later.
Frasier was taken to Lincoln Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition.


Cops say the assailant may have gone berserk because he wrongly believed the victim snapped a photo of him.


Frasier said that before the attack, he had complained that the suspect was standing too close to him. He also believes he was targeted because he is gay, but cops could not confirm any hate crime investigation.


Two weeks earlier, on July 24, Diaz was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a firearm in Lower Manhattan, authorities said.

Diaz allegedly attacked and robbed the senior on Exchange Place near Broad Street in the Financial District around 1 p.m. Sunday.Diaz allegedly attacked and robbed the senior on Exchange Place near Broad Street in the Financial District around 1 p.m. Sunday.NYPD Diaz allegedly slashed the victim on the arm before he picked the man's pockets, according to cops and the video.Diaz allegedly slashed the victim on the arm before he picked the man’s pockets, according to cops and the video. NYPD
“He’s walking in transit there,” NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said. “He sees two Transit cops, drops a bag and tells the cops ‘I got a gun in the bag.’ So there’s a gun in the bag.”


In that case, Diaz was ordered held on $5,000 bail, prosecutors said.


“That was his first arrest. So [then] he goes on a little bit of a spree [on Sunday],” the police official said. “He does those two and we’re looking to see what else. It’s the same people all over again, and again, and again.”


Diaz remained at large Friday.

Diaz took off with the elderly man's watch and cell phone, authorities said.Diaz took off with the elderly man’s watch and cell phone, authorities said. NYPD
His alleged crimes come amid a citywide spike in stabbings so far this year.





The statistics, which cover the period through Aug. 7, show that stabbings have risen by 11% compared to the same span last year – from 2,465 to 2,756.


Fatal stabbings have jumped a whopping 43% – from 48 to 69 – during the same period, the data shows.
 
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