Police have arrested a masked NYC teen for ruthlessly slashing a 29-year-old woman on a lower Manhattan train last week after she refused to hand over her bag to him.
Cops said the masked stranger nearly killed the victim when he sliced her up with a large kitchen knife because she refused to give up her bag.
On Sunday, 18-year-old Brandon Balfour was arraigned on attempted murder in the second degree, assault, and robbery charges for repeatedly knifing the victim in the violent robbery on a northbound No. 3 train around 11:10 p.m. Wednesday, said authorities.
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The victim recounted feeling the masked teen stare at her in a “strange” manner as they sat alone on a train car, the criminal complaint confirms.
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Court documents claim that she then tried to exit the train, but Balfour went after her and allegedly told her to give him her bag or he would stab her.
The 29-year-old woman refused to give up her bag and looked for help, and that triggered the masked teen to allegedly flash a knife and slash her on her left arm and elbow, both hands, and back, with a 14-to-16-inch kitchen knife, surveillance footage revealed.
According to the complaint, the victim had a large amount of blood pooling on her back after the attack.
Balfour then allegedly took the woman’s cellphone, ditched the knife and fled the scene. He left her slumped on the ground and drenched in blood as she appeared to call for help, court documents indicated.
The woman was then taken to Bellevue Hospital to have her stab wounds treated,as she had “pierced her diaphragm, causing her internal organs to shift,” the complaint said.
Officials added that she then underwent “significant and extensive surgery” to survive the stabbing.
On Friday, Balfour was arrested after he was located inside a Jamaica, Queens shelter, police said.
Police discovered the yellow face mask the NYC teen wore during the assault ,and a cellphone covered with blood was found on him when he was arrested, per court documents.
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The masked teen was ordered held without bail after prosecutors demanded he be remanded at his Manhattan Criminal Court hearing, and he’s set to return to court on Thursday.
