A 23-year-old man was punched in the face with brass knuckles and robbed of his cellphone in broad daylight outside a Jerome Avenue storefront in University Heights, according to police, who say two unidentified attackers fled north on foot after the assault. The attack happened on Wednesday, July 8, at approximately 2:30 p.m. in front of 2357 Jerome Avenue.
Police say the victim was approached by two unknown individuals who made a statement to him before both suspects punched him in the face with brass knuckles, according to NYPD Crime Stoppers. The pair also kicked the victim and took his cellphone before fleeing northbound on Jerome Avenue, the agency said. No arrests have been announced, and the attackers remain unidentified.
🚨WANTED FOR A ROBBERY: On Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at approximately 2:30 P.M., a 23-year-old male victim was in front of 2357 Jerome Avenue when he was approached by two unknown individuals. After one of the individuals made a statement, both punched him in the face with brass… pic.twitter.com/xCo3qajrCd
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) August 15, 2026
The location falls within the jurisdiction of the NYPD's 52nd Precinct, headquartered at 3016 Webster Avenue under Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector Asif Iqbal as of March, per NYC.gov. The precinct serves a swath of the northern Bronx that includes Bedford Park, Fordham, Norwood, and University Heights.
A Storefront With a Troubled Past
The address itself is not new to crime reports. Norwood News has noted that 2357 Jerome Avenue, a multi-story mixed-use building, was previously the site of an indoor robbery inside a barbershop operating there in January 2022. The stretch of Jerome Avenue sits beneath the elevated IRT Jerome Avenue subway line, a commercial artery built in 1866 by businessman Leonard Jerome to connect Manhattan to the historic Jerome Park Racetrack, according to Hoodline's earlier reporting on a separate shooting nearby.
The ZIP code surrounding the attack site, 10468, is a densely populated commercial and residential corridor where an estimated 91% of residents rent their homes and the median household income sits at $37,777 as of this year, per data from HUNT Real Estate ERA. Multi-family apartment buildings sit above street-level storefronts throughout the area, a layout that puts heavy foot traffic within steps of the robbery scene.
Legal Stakes Rise With Brass Knuckles
Under New York Penal Law § 265.01(1), simply possessing metal knuckles is classified as Fourth-Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, and prosecutors do not need to prove the suspects intended to use them, according to FindLaw. But because the attackers allegedly used the knuckles to inflict injury while working together, the incident could also support a charge of Robbery in the Second Degree under Penal Law § 160.10 — a Class C violent felony carrying up to 15 years in state prison, per the New York State Senate's penal code guidance.
Part of a Wider Pattern Along the Corridor
This attack adds to a string of violent incidents recently reported along Jerome Avenue. Hoodline has documented a fatal shooting near 2362 Jerome Avenue in July and a gunpoint shooting outside a store at 2600 Jerome Avenue in August, both within blocks of the July 8 robbery. NYPD CompStat data cited by Norwood News showed major reported crime in the 52nd Precinct rose 6.42% year-over-year to 2,802 incidents in late 2025, keeping the area among the higher-crime sectors of the Bronx even as homicides there fell by half.
That local trend cuts against the citywide picture. NYPD crime reports from earlier this year showed murders and shooting incidents at historic lows across New York City overall, but robbery metrics in several Bronx precincts have stayed elevated compared to pre-pandemic baselines, Norwood News reported. The pattern has drawn ongoing community concern even as officials tout borough-wide progress on the most violent crime categories.
Other recent Hoodline coverage in the same precinct includes reports of two men robbing a 70-year-old at a Norwood corner and a man punching a 15-year-old and stealing his phone outside a Kingsbridge Heights school, part of a broader run of robbery and assault cases NYPD is investigating in the 52nd Precinct this summer.
How to Submit a Tip
NYPD Crime Stoppers is asking anyone with information about the July 8 robbery to come forward. The program guarantees complete anonymity and offers a cash reward of up to $3,500 for information leading to an arrest and indictment, according to NYC.gov. Tips can be submitted by calling 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), through the Crime Stoppers website, or via X at @NYPDTips; Spanish-language tips can be directed to 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
