A man was stabbed twice in the stomach on a Queens subway platform early Thursday morning after he attempted to intervene in an harassment incident. The victim, identified as 35-year-old Aaron Rodriguez, a hotel chef, was on his way home around 5 a.m. when he observed three suspects verbally abusing an elderly man on the southbound No. 7 train platform at the 82nd Street-Jackson Heights station.
Rodriguez told The Post that he told the group, "Leave the guy alone!" This prompted the suspects to begin fighting with him. "They just started fighting with me and just started scrapping, so I did my best to hold it down to defend myself," Rodriguez recounted. "But at some point during the scrap, they ended up stabbing me a couple times."
Rodriguez stated he did not realize he had been stabbed until after the assailants had fled and the altercation had ended. "I was just about to get on the train, and I just felt warmth coming down," he said. "And then I lifted my shirt up and saw I got stabbed so I went down to the street from the platform and called the emergency ambulance."
He was transported to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he remained as of Friday awaiting surgery. Doctors plan to perform surgery to ensure there are no internal injuries before closing his wounds with stitches. He is expected to be released over the weekend.
Rodriguez expressed that the incident would not deter him from intervening in similar situations in the future. "No, I don’t think that it’s going to change anything," he said. "You know, I’m still going to be on high alert. If I see something I don’t like, I’m still gonna call it out. You know what I mean? It’s not gonna stop me. I’m not gonna let this affect me at all."
He added that he is "more mad than anything" and hopes for justice. "I feel people should also have a right to defend themselves. I wasn’t armed. They were."
The NYPD released photos of the suspects, who were still at large as of Friday. The department is asking anyone with information to contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS or submit tips via the Crime Stoppers website or X account.