Good Samaritan Trying to Stop Phone Theft Gets Attacked with Cane By Would-be Victim

New York City police are searching for a man they say attacked a good Samaritan with a cane after the latter tried to alert a man that his cell phone could be easily stolen as he slept on a Manhattan subway platform.

Authorities said around 1 a.m. on June 17, the victim noticed the suspect was asleep and holding his phone as he sat in a wheelchair on the southbound side of the Q tracks inside Prince Street station.

"He then woke up the individual in order to prevent him from being a victim of a crime," police said.

"The male then pulled out a cane and struck the victim in the neck and head, causing a minor laceration to his head."

The suspect fled the scene in his motorized wheelchair, according to authorities.

The victim, a 22-year-old man, was brought to Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in "stable condition," officials said.

On Monday, the NYPD Crime Stoppers released video footage of the man in the wheelchair as investigators try to determine his identity and whereabouts.

Violence in and around the city's subway trains briefly spiked late last month, including a shooting June 25 on the S train that left a 36-year-old man injured.

MTA Chair Janno Lieber later told reporters the NYPD added more officers on trains because of the "high profile" incidents, according to the Gothamist, which reported that overall, murders and felony assaults across the transit system were down compared to last year.

“We had a bad couple of weeks, but the presence of police has improved riders’ sense of confidence,” Lieber said. “And I think we're going to get back to the downward trend we were seeing until the last few weeks.”