The police have now identified the man who has allegedly assaulted eight people—all Asian—and stolen their cellphones and money. The NYPD says that Jason Commisso, 34, is their main suspect.
Police say that Commisso has struck eight times between January 17 and January 26. In seven of the eight incidents (see the NYPD's description of all the attacks below), he follows the victim into an elevator and then punches him or her repeatedly. All incidents have occurred in the 23rd Precinct, which covers East Harlem.
Commisso is described as being 6'1" tall, weighing 200 lbs, with brown hair and hazel eyes. His last known address was in Queens. Anyone with information in regards to these incidents is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
NYPD spokesman Commissioner Paul Browne said, "Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly today ordered additional Impact officers into the 23rd Precinct to beef up uniformed presence in light of the latest assault in the robbery pattern involving Asian victims there. The additional officers is on top of personnel already assigned from Hate Crime Task Force, Manhattan North Task Force, Manhattan North Anti-Crime, Manhattan North Grand Larceny Unit, the 23rd Precinct Detectives Squad personnel, as well as other officers in plain clothes. Additional officers fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese have been assigned for community outreach. Flyers about the crime pattern and the suspect have been disseminated to hospitals, senior citizen centers, and other locations as well as all police officers and school crossing guards."
Here are the incidents, and, at the bottom, a video of the suspect using a credit from incident #6 at the McDonald's at 1872 3rd Avenue, Manhattan just 40 minutes after the attack.
Incident #1: Thursday, January 17, 2013, at approximately 0800 hours, F/A/44 was followed into the elevator, assaulted by the suspect who fled with the victim's bag that contained several credit cards, a driver license and keys. Victim sustained injuries to the left side of her face.
Incident #2: Saturday, January 19, 2013 at approximately 1111 hours, F/A/46 was approached by the suspect who struck her on the left side of her face and removed her purse that contained money, credit cards, a driver license and the victim's iPhone. The victim sustained injuries to her face.
Incident #3: Monday, January 21, 2013 at approximately 1427 hours, M/A/64 was followed into the elevator by the suspect who punched him numerous times. The suspect removed the victim's wallet and id card. The victim sustained a broken nose and a swollen lip.
Incident #4: Wednesday, January 23,2013 at approximately 0600 hours, M/A/46 was followed by the suspect into the elevator. The suspect punched the victim in the face several times removing his cellphone and wallet.
Incident #5: Wednesday, January 23,2013 at approximately 0830 hours, M/A/62, suspect followed the victim into the elevator, punched the victim in the face and removed the victim's cellphone and wallet.
Incident #6: Thursday, January 24, 2013 at approximately 0830 hours, F/A/47 was followed by the suspect into the elevator and punched repeatedly. The suspect removed her purse containing miscellaneous items.
Incident #7: On Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 1900hrs, the victim, a F/A/27, was followed into an elevator of her apartment building in the Upper East Side of Manhattan by the suspect. Once inside the elevator the suspect assaulted the victim, removed her purse & iPhone and then fled the scene. The victim, who received lacerations to her face and nose, was removed to Cornell Hospital in stable condition.
Incident#8: On Saturday, January 26, 2013, at 1020 hrs, the victim, a M/A/57, was followed into the elevator of his apartment building on East 97 Street by the suspect. Once inside the elevator the suspect assaulted the victim, removed his cell phone, wallet containing credit/debit cards and USC. The suspect then fled the scene in an unknown direction. The victim suffered a broken nose and was removed to Metropolitan Hospital in stable condition.
