Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Patrick Chambers has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and was arraigned in Supreme Court on attempted murder charges and other crimes. The defendant allegedly stabbed two elderly men on a subway train in July 2020 in unprovoked attacks.

District Attorney Katz said, “The defendant is accused of attacking two defenseless men – both in their 70s – on a subway car. One of the victims was stabbed as he tried to help his fellow passenger. There is no justification for this kind of senseless violence. We should always be safe traveling on our subways. Thankfully, the victims survived.”

Chambers, 46, of Benedict Avenue in the Bronx, was charged in a seven-count indictment with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree of an elderly person, assault in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. Chambers was arraigned today before Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant who continued remand for the defendant and set his return date for March 2, 2021. If convicted, Chambers faces up to 25 years in prison.

According to the charges, at about 7:30 a.m. on  July 5, 2020, on board a Number 7 subway train stopped at  52^nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue, the defendant was observed holding a knife in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. Without provocation, Chambers allegedly began to yell at a 71-year-old man sitting across from him.

Continuing, the defendant then approached the man and allegedly stabbed him. The victim fell to the floor, and the defendant is accused of continuing the assault by striking him repeatedly. A 73-year-old Good Samaritan stepped in to try to stop the attack and Chambers allegedly stabbed him too, slashing him in the chest and wrist. The defendant fled the train car. An eyewitness to the attack engaged the defendant in conversation, a short distance from where the stabbings occurred, until the police arrived to arrest him.

District Attorney Katz said police recovered a knife, allegedly from Chamber’s pocket, and the blade appeared to have blood on it. Police also recovered a pair of scissors from a puddle of blood in the subway car.

Both victims required treatment for their injuries at an area hospital. The 71-year-old man sustained a large laceration to his abdomen and chest. He lost approximately two liters of blood and had to undergo emergency surgery.

The investigation was conducted by Police Officer Kareem Marcano and Sergeant Christopher Collazo of the New York City Police Department’s Transit Division District 20.

Assistant District Attorney Brianne Richards of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau will be prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Eric Rosenbaum, Bureau Chief, Debra Lynn Pomodore and Brian C. Hughes, Deputy Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.