New York City police are on the hunt for a man accused of sneaking up on unsuspecting women and slashing their legs from behind in Manhattan before he disappeared into the subway system.
Police allege he slashed three women in separate incidents up and down the subway system between 4 and 5 p.m. Sunday.
Around 4:15 p.m., police say the first victim was slashed in the right leg from behind at the 86th Street/Lexington Avenue station, as she was getting off a train.
According to the NYPD, moments later the same man slashed a 48-year-old woman's right leg from behind as she was waiting for a southbound train - which the suspect boarded before first responders arrived to treat the victims.
NEW YORK WOMAN LUNGES AT MOTHER AND BABY IN PARK DURING VIOLENT RAMPAGE: VIDEO
Police say the next attack took place less than 20 minutes later, on a No. 4 train near the Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall station downtown, targeting a 28-year-old woman who was sitting in a southbound car.
READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP
She was rushed to the hospital with a "severe" wound to her left leg, police said.
NEW YORK SENIOR CITIZEN CHARGED IN MUGGER'S SHOOTING DEATH HAD WARNED LOCAL NEWSPAPER OF RISING CRIME
Surveillance images released by the NYPD were taken as he left the scene of the attack downtown, police said.
After he hopped a turnstile to exit the station, police said he was seen fleeing through another station at Chambers Street before he vanished.
The suspect, pictured jumping over a turnstile and wearing a Boston Red Sox hat and white T-shirt with an orange-and-yellow character on the front, is described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall and around 220 pounds. He had short black hair and was also wearing a medical mask, pulled down to his chin, blue pants and black sneakers.
Anyone with information about his identity or whereabouts is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
CALIFORNIA JUDGE ROBBED OF ROLEX OUTSIDE OAKLAND COURTHOUSE, REPORT CLAIMS
The string of knife attacks comes days after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg touted declines in homicides and shootings so far this year after alarming spikes early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The New York Post, which has common ownership as Fox News Digital, reported over the weekend that knife arrests in the city's subway system have jumped 60% so far this year compared to last and are up by 126% over 2019.
The slashing spree also comes weeks after Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with a lengthy criminal record and history of mental illness, died after an altercation on an F train subway car when a bystander restrained him with a chokehold.
A 24-year-old Marine Corps veteran named Daniel Penny has been charged with manslaughter in Neely's death.