Two injured in NYC Christmas Eve stabbing at Grand Central Station, suspect arrested

A man and woman were injured in separate knife attacks at Grand Central–42nd Street subway station on Christmas Eve by the same attacker.

The attacks occurred around 10:15 pm, starting with a 42-year-old man who was slashed across the left wrist after an argument began near the station entrance with the assailant. The suspect then fled up the stairs where he proceeded to attack a 26-year-old woman, slashing her neck after another confrontation.

The woman who was stabbed, Imani-Ciara Pizarro, was heading to her night job when she was attacked. She was Facetiming when she spotted blood on the floor. Moments later, she "blacked out" after the suspect "sucker punched" her in the back of the head. The suspect then reportedly yelled at her "What's your problem?" and proceeded to cut her throat with the knife. 

“I wish I could be able to travel to my livelihood and not be attacked. I wish there were cops in Grand Central when I was attacked, there were none. I was running for help and there was no one there,” the woman said, per the New York Post. "There are usually cops in four different spots and I ran to each one of them but none were there." She said that witnesses to the attack, many of which appeared to be tourists, "just froze."

According to a report by the New York Post, both victims were transported to Bellevue Hospital and are in stable condition. Following the second attack, the suspect, identified as 28-year-old Jason Sargeant, attempted to flee via an escalator but was apprehended by police when witnesses were finally able to get the help of nearby law enforcement officers. The officers were also able to recover the knife used in the assaults. 

Sargeant has been charged with assault, reckless endangerment, menacing, criminal possession of a weapon, harassment and disorderly conduct in connection to the stabbing. Sargeant also has a long history of violent arrests, including charges of criminal mischief, fare evasion, and assaulting a police officer.

This incident comes amid ongoing concerns over safety in New York City's subway system, which has faced heightened scrutiny following high-profile cases like the recent case of Daniel Penny. 

Last weekend, a Brooklyn woman died after she was set on fire by a Guatemalan illegal immigrant while on an F train at Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island. The woman was asleep on the train when the migrant lit her with a match. While officers were able to put out the flames, she ultimately died. The assailant fled the scene.