Four attackers armed with a knife and metal pipes approached a group of four victims outside 117 Central Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, early on Sunday, August 9, leaving multiple men with lacerations before fleeing in a blue Dodge Ram pickup truck. The attack, which unfolded around 4 a.m., left a 38-year-old man stabbed in the torso and slashed across the face, while two 40-year-old victims and a 53-year-old victim suffered their own lacerations to the head, torso, and back.
According to NYPD Crime Stoppers
, the four unidentified suspects exited the pickup truck and approached the four victims together, with one displaying a knife while the others brandished metal pipes. The group demanded money from the men before the violence escalated: one attacker stabbed the 38-year-old victim in the torso and slashed his face, while also slashing a 40-year-old victim in the head and torso. A second 40-year-old victim was slashed in the head and back, and the 53-year-old victim was struck repeatedly in the head and stomach with metal pipes, sustaining lacerations in the process, per the same police account.
One of the attackers also made off with the 38-year-old victim's cellphone and roughly $100 in cash before all four suspects fled southbound on Central Avenue in the pickup truck, NYPD Crime Stoppers said. The appeal sought information from the public.
Legal Stakes Facing the Four Suspects
If identified and charged, the four suspects could face robbery charges, but whether the conduct meets the definition of Robbery in the First Degree would depend on the statute's specific elements, including serious physical injury or a deadly weapon under separate provisions; the supplied facts do not establish that the injuries meet the statutory definition of serious physical injury, and the source does not state that displaying metal pipes alone establishes first-degree robbery, according to a legal breakdown from Criminal Lawyer.
The incident involved four people acting together and multiple victims being injured.
A Precinct Already Under Scrutiny
The robbery happened within the confines of the NYPD's 103rd Precinct, which serves a western portion of Queens, including the Downtown Jamaica commercial corridor, Hollis, Hollis Park Gardens, and Lakewood out of its station house at 168-02 91st Avenue, according to NYC.gov. Within that command, the article also references 2025 crime data.
The 103rd Precinct has also drawn scrutiny on the oversight side: between 2000 and 2025 it logged 2,709 civilian complaints with the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board, the highest total of any NYPD precinct in Queens, according to The Orlow Firm. City officials have also pursued other initiatives, according to the NYC Council.
Part of a Wider Pattern of Street Robberies
This is not the only violent robbery case NYPD has publicized in the neighborhood recently. Hoodline previously reported on a robbery spree in which detectives sought information about suspects who targeted 10 victims across Jamaica between August 4 and August 28. The article also discusses robberies in another NYPD precinct.
The available accounts do not establish whether investigators have connected the blue Dodge Ram pickup truck or the four unidentified attackers from the Central Avenue robbery to any of these other unresolved cases.
How to Submit a Tip
NYPD Crime Stoppers is asking anyone with information to come forward through its website or its X account, @NYPDTips, or by calling the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). Tipsters can also call 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The appeal provides contact information for anonymous tips.
